Nudge The Quileute
by Maleficent-darkgoodwitch2416
Summary: Nudge is half-Quileute and has the werewolf gene. How will this affect the flock? Embry rejoins the flock, after he left them a few years earlier, and the rest of the story follows the Maximum Ride plotline.
1. Prologue:11yearsagoNudge'sMysteriousPas

_**Nudge the Quileute**_

_**Prologue**_

_**11 years ago—Nudge's mysterious past**_

_**Outside narrator's POV**_

Joseph Black, Billy Black's younger identical twin brother and Jacob Black's uncle, was in the Tipisco Community Hospital, with his wife, Melanie Black, waiting to get their newborn daughter, Monique Amanda Black, who supposedly had some sort of genetic mutation disease. Joseph, who had told Melanie all of the Quileute legends just before they got married, and Melanie both figured that the so-called "problem," was just the Quileute werewolf gene that several Quileutes had, because they weren't sure if Monique would have the wolf gene. Three hours later, they got the terrible news, Monique had died, and three days later, both parents were dead, never knowing that their daughter had been sent to a science lab/prison in California, in Death Valley, eight miles due north from the Bad Water Basin, called the School, where she would be living in a dog crate and experimented on, like a lab rat, for the first seven years of her life, until she was rescued by Jeb Batchelder, who mysteriously died when she was nine and was taken care of, by her older sister, Maximum Ride, for the next two years, which is where our story of this brave, young, Avian-human Quileute werewolf hybrid begins.


	2. Angel'skidnapping,thefirsttimeIphased,me

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Angel's kidnapping, the first time I phased, meeting and defying Sam Uley, Embry Call joining me, when I imprinted on Iggy, telling the rest of the flock, except for Angel, the Quileute legends, and planning how to rescue Angel.**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

I felt my one and only older "sister," Maximum Ride, but we, my other "siblings" and me, none of us, except for the Gasman and Angel, are really related, just call her Max, shaking me awake and heard her say something that somewhere along the lines of "Hey, sweetie, up and at 'em. Breakfast in ten," I think. What, I was still asleep, so how can you expect me to actually know what she had said. I forced my eyes open and struggled to focus on her face. I was still half-asleep and managed to sleepily mumble, "Wha'?" After Max said, "It's another day. Get up and face it," with a great deal of groaning, I slowly pulled myself upward into a crumpled but still technically upright position. Then I glanced over at Angel and secretly wondered how she somehow manages to wake up and be so full of energy. Then I smiled as I remembered that right from the moment I first met her, I had loved Angel, everyone in the flock, that is my family,—Maximum Ride, Max, Fang, Iggy, me, (Nudge), the Gasman, Gasser or Gazzy, and Angel—had loved Angel when she first joined our little family. When Angel first joined the flock, there had been already six members of our group, but the oldest, Ed, had disappeared, soon after she came to the School, which scared the rest of us, especially when we heard that he was dead. I slowly got dressed, fought to get my entirely unmanageable, wild, out-of-control, shiny, and long black hair into my usual ponytail. I'm half Quileute and I've known this for the past four years. My dad, Jeb, when we first escaped from the School, told me that I was 50% Quileute, 48% African American, and 2% bird. He had done a bunch of research on the Quileute legends and bought a book of legends off the internet and I read each legend every night, until I could recite them from memory—700 times. Once, I told Iggy that if I ever got the chance, I would love to hear legends, from another member of the Quileute tribe, at La Push, this little Quileute Native American Reservation on the beach, fifteen miles south of the rainy town of Forks, Washington, after accidentally telling him I loved him. What I was half out of it. I then trotted downstairs, and then I smiled when I smelled scrambled eggs being made. I love Iggy's cooking. Iggy might be blind, thanks to the sicko whitecoats, who "took care" of us when we were younger, but he is a really good cook and my best guy friend in the world. I sat down on the old, beat-up couch, which we've had forever, and then I gagged. I glared at Gazzy, who quickly apologized. I grinned at Gazzy, to show him that I accepted his apology, who then sat down next to Angel at the kitchen table and then I sat down, two seats away from him. I always did this. This way, Iggy could sit next to his two best friends, without having to choose. As soon as Max and Fang, along with Iggy, all three carrying the six breakfast plates, joined me and the two youngest members of the flock, Gasser and Angel, we all started chatting animatedly amongst ourselves, like we did, every single morning. Sometime during the meal, Angel firmly said, "I want to go pick strawberries. They're ripe now." Gazzy said, "Okay, Angel. I'll go with you." Then he let loose and boy did it stink. Fang said, "I'm done," and quickly cleared his area of the table, Iggy grabbed his throat, gasped out, "Gas mask," and pretended to choke, Max said, "Oh, jeez, Gazzy," Angel groaned, and I pinched my nose closed. Gazzy apologized, but it didn't really help with the stench. With a pointed glare at Gazzy, I said, "I'll go too. I think the _fresh air_ will do us all good." Then Max said, "We'll all go." It was a really nice day outside, perfect for some flying practice, and we were driving each other crazy, like siblings will. I think that the funniest part was when Gazzy used Iggy's voice and pointed out Max's lack of cooking skills to Angel. That's about when Angel shrieked in terror. Terrified and angry that we had been found, I glanced around me rapidly, and that's when I saw the Erasers, wolf-men hybrids, appearing to jump from something in the air, possibly one of the choppers, that I had seen when I was back at the School. When Max attacked the Eraser nearest her, I did the one thing that made sense to me, I began to fight as many of the creeps as I possibly could, but during the fight I couldn't stop myself from crying, because I was scared and hurting. I was still trying to learn how to ignore the pain messages that I received. I felt two Erasers grabbing my hands and feet and swing/throw me through the air and I hit my head against a tree. I blacked out almost immediately afterward, barely managed to yelp out "Ow," before everything went black. Later, I weakly pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around for the rest of the flock. Struggling to my feet, I limped over to the rest of the group and we quickly set out to rescue Angel. We caught up with the Erasers and while they were moving Angel from the dirty Hummer, we had been following, to a chopper, we would grab her back. That didn't exactly happen. Fang attacked the first Eraser to emerge from the Hummer, and got hurt. Then a second Eraser threw a grenade at me and Iggy, and grabbing Iggy's hand, I screamed and we pulled back, and up and away. He got away unharmed, but I got a burn on my cheek. Max tried to rescue Angel from Ari, but when she couldn't grab the sack, she leapt into the air, grabbing the landing skid of the chopper, and she let go when she saw Angel shake her head free of the sack and Ari tightened his grip on the trigger of the gun he was holding. I was crying, because it wasn't fair that Angel had to go back to the School, and then I started shaking. Backing away from my friends, with my hands out, trying to tell them to stay back, I exploded. I heard Fang say, "Did they Eraserify Nudge, but we never notice?" Turning, I ran away, scared that my friends would hurt me. Iggy followed me and said, "Relax Nudge, I won't hurt you." Then I heard the voices in my head. I stopped running, and tilted my head to the side to concentrate on the voices. I heard one voice say, _**"Who are you?"**_ I quickly thought back, making up the name on the spot, **"Monique** **Amanda Black."** Someone else said, _**"My name is Sam Uley, and you can't be Jacob's cousin. She died eleven years ago."**_ Blinking back tears of anger, I snarl/thought back at this Sam guy, **"I am Monique Amanda Black and I did not die eleven years ago. I have no idea what you're talking about."** Sam then said, _**"Come to La**_ _**Push and we'll explain everything there."**_ I asked, **"Do you mean tell me the legends, for the first time of my life and everything and you'll take me to my uncle's house and I'll finally have a family that I'm actually related to and..." **_**"Yes. Now shut up. And we'll**_ _**sort out this mess about you."**_ **"You're a big meanie." **Realizing that Sam wouldn't let me explain, I snarled at him, my voice carrying this double timbre of authority that I recognized from Max's voice, **"The son of Levi Uley****does not tell the daughter of Ephraim Black what to do."** Then all the voices were gone, except for one who said, _"Remember me? My real name is Embry Call, but the nickname you guys had given me had been_ _Edwin, or Ed for short, because I liked that name, and I'd escaped from the School, the year before Jeb helped you and your friends escape."_ **"Oh, yeah. Why** **can I still hear you, but not anyone else?"** _"I want to stay with you, because that way I_ _don't have to hide my wings."_ Then I saw Iggy and I found myself staring at him. **"Uh, Embry, what just happened?" **_"Monique, I think you just imprinted."_ **"Imprinted? What does that** **mean?"** _"You found your soulmate."_ I sent Embry an image of our E-shaped house, and then ran home, but stopping to lick Iggy's cheek. I met Embry there and I crawled through the open kitchen window. _"Okay, Monique, take deep breaths and shake your head back and forth. I'll be outside if you need me."_ Then I was a human again and I ran to my room and changed into some clean clothes. I also pulled out the book of Quileute legends, from where I hid it, and went back to the field, where I had left the others. Embry was there, frowning when he learned that Angel had been taken back to the School, from Max, who had returned to talk to Fang, who was about to tell her that I had been Eraserified while at the School. I flipped to the two legends about Taha Aki and handed the book to Max, telling her and the others, except for Embry, who already knew these stories, to follow along in the book, and then began reciting the first of the two stories that told how the Quileutes first gained the ability to turn into giant wolves and how the magic of the Quileutes first began with the spirit warriors and the summary of the meeting of the Cullens and the original Pack, before Embry, Sam, Jared, Paul, and anyone who would join the Pack including my cousin, Jacob, his second cousin, Quil, maybe the two Clearwater kids, or those weird twins, Collin and Brady, that liked to bug Embry, before he became a werewolf and joined Sam's gang, and then my flock, which is where he belongs, because he'll fit in better with me and my genetically enhanced family, and me, the Alpha wolf, of my pack, whether Sam likes it or not, which he probably doesn't because apparently he had been a werewolf the longest out of anyone else, but I can't leave Iggy or the rest of the flock. They're too important to me. They are my family, and Iggy's my soulmate, which I did not see coming, because Iggy had been like a brother to me for the past four years of my miserable, short, painful, complicated, dangerous, secret, hidden, and deadly life of being a Quileute werewolf/African American adolescent, hunted, on the run, in hiding, trying to stay alive, trying to survive, struggling, suffering, weak, scared, frightened, terrified, hurting, and who knows when I'll drop over dead on my expiration date which may come at anytime kind of birdkid, or a child who is either 95% human and 5% bird or 98% human and 2% bird, like me and the rest of the flock—Ed, Embry, Max, Fang, Iggy, me, Nudge, Gazzy, and his little sister, Angel, the youngest member of our group/family unit. Ed suggested that someday we go to La Push and hang out and if someone asked what our group was, we'd call it a cult, and unlike Sam's gang/cult, we wouldn't accept any new members. While we were at La Push, we would only hang out with each other, and hunt down any wanted criminals, who have escaped from jail or something else to keep our friends safe, and keep all the innocent people whose lives were put in danger, because of the Erasers who would probably be following us, so they could kill us and keep the rest of the world from finding out that we even exist. I really find that the Erasers are kind of annoying and that they, along with the whitecoats need to find a new hobby, besides hunting us, attempting to kill us, and turning innocent children into these sick human/animal combinations, some of which still give me nightmares, even after being out of the School for four years. Ed took over as leader, with Max and Fang helping him keep the rest of us under some form of control, because if we were allowed to, we would go crazy and stir up trouble, like blowing up the School, or something like that, or worse, murder the whitecoats, like Reilly. Hopefully, someday, we'll get the opportunity to free all of the experiments that the whitecoats had created, at least the ones who will have a chance at survival in the outside world, longer than a few hours, or a few days, or a few weeks, or a few years. I mean the experiments that will last longer than just six years, like the Erasers, or maybe even longer then we, the flock, have survived so far and will survive singly or as a group unit.

"_**The Quileutes have been a small people from the beginning, and we are a small people still, but we have never disappeared. This is because there has always been magic in our blood. It wasn't always the magic of shape-shifting — that came later. First, we were spirit warriors. In the beginning, the tribe settled in this harbor and became skilled ship builders and fishermen. But the tribe was small, and the harbor was rich in fish. There were others who coveted our land, and we were too small to hold it. A larger tribe moved against us, and we took to our ships to escape them. Kaheleha was not the first spirit warrior, but we do not remember the stories that came before his. We do not know who the first to discover this power was, or how it had been used before this crisis. Kaheleha was the first great Spirit Chief in our history. In this emergency, Kaheleha used the magic to defend our land. He and all his warriors left the ship — not their bodies, but their spirits. Their women watched over their bodies and the waves, and the men took their spirits back to our harbor. They could not physically touch the enemy tribe, but they had other ways. The stories tell us that they could blow fierce winds into their enemy's camp; they could make a great screaming in the wind that terrified their foes. The stories also tell us that the animals could see the spirit warriors and understand them: the animals would do their bidding. Kaheleha took his spirit army and wreaked havoc on the intruders. This invading tribe had packs of big, thick-furred dogs that they used to pull their sleds in the frozen north. The spirit warriors turned the dogs against their masters and then brought a mighty infestation of bats up from the cliff caverns. They used the screaming to aid the dogs in confusing the men. The dogs and bats won. The survivors scattered, calling our harbor a cursed place. The dogs ran wild when the spirit warriors released them. The Quileutes returned to their bodies and their wives, victorious. The other nearby tribes, the Hohs and the Makahs, made treaties with the Quileutes. They wanted nothing to do with our magic. We lived in peace with them. When an enemy came against us, the spirit warriors would drive them off. Generations passed. Then came the last great Spirit Chief, Taha Aki. He was known for his wisdom, and for being a man of peace. The people lived well and content in his care. But there was one man, Utlapa, who was not content. Utlapa was one of Chief Taha Aki's strongest spirit warriors — a powerful man, but a grasping man, too. He thought the people should use their magic to expand their lands, to enslave the Hohs and Makahs and build an empire. Now, when the warriors were their spirit selves, they knew each other's thoughts. Taha Aki saw what Utlapa dreamed, and was angry with Utlapa. Utlapa was commanded to leave the people, and never use his spirit self again. Utlapa was a strong man, but the chief's warriors outnumbered him. He had no choice but to leave. The furious outcast hid in the forest nearby, waiting for a chance to get revenge against the chief. Even in times of peace, the Spirit Chief was vigilant in protecting his people. Often, he would go to a sacred, secret place in the mountains. He would leave his body behind and sweep down through the forests and along the coast, making sure no threat approached. One day when Taha Aki left to perform this duty, Utlapa followed. At first, Utlapa simply planned to kill the chief, but this plan had its drawbacks. Surely the spirit warriors would seek to destroy him, and they could follow faster than he could escape. As he hid in the rocks and watched the chief prepare to leave his body, another plan occurred to him. Taha Aki left his body in the secret place and flew with the winds to keep watch over his people. Utlapa waited until he was sure the chief had traveled some distance with his spirit self. Taha Aki knew it the instant that Utlapa joined him in the spirit world, and he also knew Utlapa's murderous plan. He raced back to his secret place, but even the winds weren't fast enough to save him. When he returned, his body was gone. Utlapa's body lay abandoned, but Utlapa had not left Taha Aki with an escape — he had cut his own body's throat with Taha Aki's hands. Taha Aki followed his body down the mountain. He screamed at Utlapa, but Utlapa ignored him as if her were mere wind. Taha Aki watched with despair as Utlapa took his place as chief of the Quileutes. For a few weeks, Utlapa did nothing but make sure that everyone believed he was Taha Aki. Then the changes began — Utlapa's first edict was to forbid any warrior to enter the spirit world. He claimed that he'd a vision of danger, but really he was afraid. He knew that Taha Aki would be waiting for the chance to tell his story. Utlapa was also afraid to enter the spirit world himself, knowing Taha Aki would quickly claim his body. So his dreams of conquest with a spirit army were impossible, and he sought to content himself with ruling over the tribe. He became a burden — seeking privileges that Taha Aki had never requested, refusing to work alongside his warriors, taking a young second wife and then a third, though Taha Aki's wife lived on — something unheard of in the tribe. Taha Aki watched in helpless fury. Eventually, Taha Aki tried to kill his body to save the tribe from Utlapa's excesses. He brought a fierce wolf down from the mountains, but Utlapa hid behind his warriors. When the wolf killed a young man who was protecting the false chief, Taha Aki felt horrible grief. He ordered the wolf away. All the stories tell us that it was no easy thing to be a spirit warrior. It was more frightening than exhilarating to be freed one's body. That is why they only used the magic in times of need. The chief's solitary journeys to keep watch were a burden and a sacrifice. Being bodiless was disorienting, uncomfortable, horrifying. Taha Aki had been away from his body for so long at this point that he was in agony. He felt he was doomed — never to cross over to the final land where his ancestors waited, stuck in this torturous nothingness forever. The great wolf followed Taha Aki's spirit as he twisted and writhed in agony through the woods. The wolf was very large for its kind, and beautiful. Taha Aki was suddenly jealous of the dumb animal. At least it had a body. At least it had a life. Even life as an animal would be better than this horrible empty consciousness. And then Taha Aki had the idea that changed us all. He asked the great wolf to make room for him, to share. The wolf complied. Taha Aki entered the wolf's body with relief and gratitude. It was not his human body, but it was better than the void of the spirit world. As one, the man and wolf returned to the village on the harbor. The people ran in fear, shouting for the warriors to come. The warriors ran to meet the wolf with their spears. Utlapa, of course, stayed safely hidden. Taha Aki did not attack his warriors. He retreated slowly from them, speaking with his eyes and trying to yelp the songs of his people. The warriors began to realize that the wolf was no ordinary animal, that there was a spirit influencing it. One older warrior, a man named Yut, decided to disobey the false chief's order and try to communicate with the wolf. As soon as Yut crossed to the spirit world, Taha Aki left the wolf — the animal waited tamely for his return — to speak to him. Yut gathered the truth in an instant, and welcomed his true chief home. At this time, Utlapa came to see if the wolf had been defeated. When he saw Yut lying lifeless on the ground, surrounded by protective warriors, he realized what was happening. He drew his knife and raced forward to kill Yut before he could return to his body. 'Traitor,' he screamed, and the warriors did not know what to do. The chief had forbidden spirit journeys, and it was the chief's decision how to punish those who disobeyed. Yut jumped back into his body, but Utlapa had his knife at his throat and a hand covering his mouth. Taha Aki's body was strong, and Yut was weak with age. Yut could not even say one word to warn the others before Utlapa silenced him forever. Taha Aki watched as Yut's spirit slipped away to the final lands that were barred to Taha Aki for all eternity. He felt a great rage, more powerful than anything he'd ever felt before. He entered the big wolf again, meaning to rip Utlapa's throat out. But, as he joined the wolf, the greatest magic happened. Taha Aki's anger was the anger of a man. The love he had for his people and the hatred for their oppressor were too vast for the wolf's body, too human. The wolf shuddered, and — before the eyes of the shocked warriors and Utlapa — turned into a man. The new man did not look like Taha Aki's body. He was far more glorious. He was the flesh interpretation of Taha Aki's spirit. The warriors recognized him at once, though, for they had flown Taha Aki's spirit. Utlapa tried to run, but Taha Aki had the strength of the wolf in his new body. He caught the thief and crushed the spirit from him before he could jump out of the stolen body. The people rejoiced when they understood what had happened. Taha Aki quickly set everything right, working again with his people and giving the young wives back to their families. The only change he kept in place was the end of the spirit travels. He knew that it was too dangerous now that the idea of stealing a life was there. The spirit warriors were no more. From that point on, Taha Aki was more than either wolf or man. They called him Taha Aki the Great Wolf, or Taha Aki the Spirit Man. He led the tribe for many, many years, for he did not age. When danger threatened, he would resume his wolf-self to fight or frighten the enemy. The people dwelt in peace. Taha Aki fathered many sons, and some of these found that, after they had reached the age of manhood, they, too, could transform into wolves. The wolves were all different, because they were spirit wolves and reflected the man they were inside. Some of the sons became warriors with Taha Aki and they no longer aged. Others, who did not like the transformation, refused to join the pack of wolf-men. These began to age again, and the tribe discovered that the wolf-men could grow old like anyone else if they gave up their spirit wolves. Taha Aki had lived the span of three old men. He had married a third wife after the deaths of the first two, and found in her his true spirit wife. Though he had loved the others, this was something else. He decided to give up his spirit wolf so that he would die when she did. That is how the magic came to us, but it is not the end of the story.... That was the story of the spirit warriors. This is the story of the third wife's sacrifice. Many years after Taha Aki gave up his spirit wolf, when he was an old man, trouble began in the north with the Makahs. Several young women of their tribe had disappeared, and they blamed it on the neighboring wolves whom they feared and mistrusted. The wolf-men cold still read each other's thoughts while in their wolf forms, just like their ancestors had while in their spirit forms. They knew none of their number was to blame. Taha Aki tried to pacify the Makah chief, but there was too much fear. Taha Aki did not want to have a war on his hands. He was no longer a warrior to lead his people. He charged his oldest wolf-son, Taha Wi, with finding the true culprit before hostilities began. Taha Wi led the other five wolves in his pack on a search through the mountains, looking for any evidence of the missing Makahs. They came across something they had never encountered before — a strange, sweet scent in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain. They did not know what creature would leave such a scent, but they followed it. They found faint traces of human scent and human blood, along the trail. They were sure this was the enemy they were searching for. The journey took them so far north that Taha Wi sent half the pack, the younger ones, back to the harbor to report to Taha Aki. Taha Wi and his two brothers did not return. The younger brothers searched for their elders, but found only silence. Taha Aki mourned for his sons. He wished to avenge his sons' death, but he was old. He went to the Makah chief in his mourning clothes and told everything that had happened. The Makah chief believed his grief, and tensions between the two tribes ended. A year later, two Makah maidens disappeared from their homes on the same night. The Makahs called on the Quileute wolves at once, who found the same sweet stink all through the Makah village. The wolves went on the hunt again. Only one came back. He was Yaha Uta, the oldest son of Taha Aki's third wife, and the youngest in the pack. He brought something with him that had never been seen in all the days of the Quileutes — a strange, cold, stony corpse that he carried in pieces. All who were of Taha Aki's blood, even those who had not been wolves, could smell the piercing smell of the dead creature. This was the enemy of the Makahs. Yaha Uta described what had happened: he and his brothers had food the creature, who looked like a man but was as hard as a granite rock, with the two Makah daughters. One girl was already dead, white and bloodless on the ground. The other was in the creature's arms, his mouth at her throat. She may have been alive when they came upon the hideous scene, but the creature quickly snapped her neck and tossed her lifeless body to the ground when they approached. His white lips were covered in her blood, and his glowed red. Yaha Uta described the fierce strength and speed of the creature. One of his brothers quickly became a victim when he underestimated that strength. Yaha Uta and his other brother were more wary. They worked together, coming at the creature from the sides, outmaneuvering it. They had to reach the very limits of their wolf strength and speed, something that had never been tested before. The creature was as hard as stone and cold as ice. They found that only their teeth could damage it. They began to rip small pieces of the creature apart while it fought them. But the creature learned quickly, and soon was matching their maneuvers. It got its hands on Yaha Uta's brother. Yaha Uta found an opening on the creature's throat, and he lunged. His teeth tore the head off the creature, but the hands continued to mangle his brother. Yaha Uta ripped the creature into unrecognizable chunks, tearing pieces apart in a desperate attempt to save his brother. He was too late, but, in the end, the creature was destroyed. Or so they thought. Yaha Uta laid the reeking remains out to be examined by the elders. One severed hand lay beside a piece of the creature's granite arm. The two pieces touched when the elders poked them with sticks, and the hand reached out towards the arm piece, trying to reassemble itself. Horrified, the elders set fire to the remains. A great cloud of choking, vile smoke polluted the air. When there was nothing but ashes, they separated the ashes into many small bags and spread them far and wide — some in the ocean, some in the forest, some in the cliff caverns. Taha Aki wore one bag around his neck, so he would be warned if the creature ever tried to put himself together again. They called it The Cold One, the Blood Drinker, and lived in fear that it was not alone. They only had one wolf protector left, young Yaha Uta. They did not have long to wait. The creature had a mate, another blood drinker, who came to the Quileutes seeking revenge. The stories say that the Cold Woman was the most beautiful thing human eyes had ever seen. She looked like the goddess of the dawn when she entered the village that morning; the sun was shining for once, and it glittered off her white skin and lit the golden hair that flowed down to her knees. Her face was magical in its beauty, her eyes black in her white face. Some fell to their knees to worship her. She asked something in a high, piercing voice, in a language that no one had ever heard. The people were dumbfounded, not knowing how to answer her. There was none of Taha Aki's blood among the witnesses but one small boy. He clung to his mother and screamed that the smell was hurting his nose. One of the elders, on his to council, heard the boy and realized what had come among them. He yelled for the people to run. She killed him first. They were twenty witnesses to the Cold Woman's approach. Two survived, only because she grew distracted by the blood, and paused to sate her thirst. They ran to Taha Aki, who sat in counsel, with the other elders, his sons, and his third wife. Yaha Uta transformed into his spirit wolf as soon as he heard the news. He went to destroy the blood drinker alone. Taha Aki, his third wife, his sons, and his elders followed behind him. At first they could not find the creature, only the evidence of her attack. Bodies lay broken, a few drained of blood, strewn across the road where she'd appeared. Then they heard the screams and hurried to the harbor. A handful of the Quileutes had run to the ships for refuge. She swam after them like a shark, and broke the bow of their boat with her incredible strength. When the ship sank, she caught those trying to swim away and broke them, too. She saw the great wolf on the shore, and she forgot about the fleeing swimmers. She swam so fast she was a blur and came, dripping and glorious, to stand before Yaha Uta. She pointed at him with one white finger and asked another incomprehensible question. Yaha Uta waited. It was a close fight. She was not the warrior her mate had been. But Yaha Uta was alone — there was no one to distract her fury from him. When Yaha Uta died, Taha Aki screamed in defiance. He limped forward and shifted into an ancient, white-muzzled wolf. The wolf was old, but this was Taha Aki the Spirit Man, and his rage made him strong. The fight began again. Taha Aki's third wife had just seen her son die before her. Now her husband fought, and she had no hope that he could win. She'd heard every word the witnesses to the slaughter had told the council. She'd heard the story of Yaha Uta's first victory, and she knew that his brother's diversion had saved him. The third wife grabbed a knife from the belt of one of the sons who stood beside her. They were all young sons, not yet men, and she knew they would die when their father failed. The third wife ran toward the Cold Woman with the dagger raised high. The Cold Woman smiled, barely distracted from her fight with the old wolf. She had no fear of the weak human woman or the knife that would not even scratch her skin, and she was about to deliver the death blow to Taha Aki. And then the third wife did something the Cold Woman did not expect. She fell to her knees at the blood drinker's feet and plunged the knife into her own heart. Blood spurted through the third wife's fingers and splashed against the Cold Woman. The blood drinker could not resist the lure of the fresh blood leaving the third wife's body. Instinctively, she turned to the dying woman, for one second entirely consumed by thirst. Taha Aki's teeth closed around her neck. That was not the end of the fight, but Taha Aki was not alone now. Watching their mother die, two young sons felt such rage that they sprang forth as their spirit wolves, though they were not yet men. With their father, they finished the creature. Taha Aki never rejoined the tribe. He never changed back to a man again. He lay for one day beside the body of the third wife, growling whenever someone tried to touch her, and then he went into the forest and never returned. Trouble with the cold ones was rare from that time on. Taha Aki's sons guarded the tribe until their sons were old enough to take their places. There were never more than three wolves at a time. It was enough. Occasionally a blood drinker would come through these lands, but they were taken by surprise, not expecting the wolves. Sometimes a wolf would die, but never were they decimated again like that first time. They'd learned how to fight the cold ones, and they passed the knowledge on, wolf mind to wolf mind, spirit to spirit, father to son. Time passed, and the descendants of Taha Aki no longer became wolves when they reached manhood. Only in a great while, if a cold one was near, would the wolves return. The cold ones always came in ones and twos, and the pack stayed small. A bigger coven came, and your own great-grandfathers prepared to fight them off. But the leader spoke to Ephraim Black as if he were a man, and promised not to harm the Quileutes. His strange yellow eyes gave some proof to his claim that they were not the same as other blood drinkers. The wolves were outnumbered; there was no need for the cold ones to offer a treaty when they could have won the fight. Ephraim accepted. They've stayed true to their side, though their presence does tend to draw in others. And their numbers have forced a larger pack than the tribe has ever seen. Except, of course, in Taha Aki's time, and so the sons of our tribe again carry the burden and share the sacrifice their fathers endured before them."**_

Max closed the book and looked up at me, and said, "Nudge, what these stupid spooky stories have to do with you?" "Max, guys, everyone, I'm not who you think I am. I am Taha Aki's great-granddaughter, and who knows how far back in my ancestry he is, and I have the wolf gene. Once, Max, I would have agreed with you about these stories being stupid and scary, but they're not. They're all true." "Uh, so when you're a wolf, how are we supposed to talk to you?" "Angel." "Let's go home guys, and start planning Operation Rescue Angel." We went home, and I curled up on the couch and started crying. Iggy was howling and sweeping his hand across the kitchen counter, sending a mug flying into Fang's head. "Watch it idiot," Fang snarled at Iggy. Them remembering that Iggy was blind; he looked up at Max and rolled his eyes at her in anger and extreme frustration. Snapping, Iggy yelled, "You _watch_ it? I mean, you can _see_, can't you? Why couldn't you get Angel?" Gazzy yelled back, "They had guns and a chopper. We're not _bulletproof_." Max yelled at all of us, "Guys! Guys! We're all upset. But _we're_ not the enemy. _They're_ the enemy." Then she calmly told us, "Just—be quiet for a minute, so I can think." Iggy came and sat on the couch next to me, and I put my head on his shoulder, after all of that arguing. He was stroking my hair, and then I sat up weakly and said, "They_ could_ have killed Angel, or all of us, if they wanted to. They had _guns_. They wanted Angel_ alive_ for some reason. They didn't care if _we_ were alive or not. I mean, they didn't go out of their way, to make_ sure_ we were dead, is what I'm saying. So that makes me think we can go after Angel again." "But they were in a chopper. They're way gone. They could be anywhere, like China or something," Gazzy reminded us. Max told us, "I don't think they took her to China, Gazzy." Then Fang bleakly said, "We know where they took her." "Where's that?" Iggy asked terrified. Max and Fang looked at each other and then looked us, and said, "The School." Horrified, I gasped and put my hand over my mouth. Gazzy looked scared, but then tried to hide it. Iggy stiffened, and Embry shook his head back forth. "After four years. I thought maybe they had forgotten…" "They'll never forget about us. Jeb wasn't supposed to take us out of there." "If anyone ever found out what they did to us, it'd be the end of the School?" "Well, why don't we tell on them? We could go to a tv station and tell everyone and say, "Look, they grew wings on us and we're just little kids and…" "okay, that would fix them, but we'd end up in a zoo." "Well what are we gonna do?" Fang returned with a pile of faded, and chew-up papers. When he shook some mouse poop off, I wiped my nose on my sleeve and said, "Ew. Ew, was that?" Then he pulled a map on how to get to the School and Max told Iggy and Gazzy to stay behind. Turning, I faced Embry and said, "Stay here and protect Iggy. I can't lose him." Embry nodded and then I turned and faced Iggy. "Iggy, I know you're upset. But I agree with Max. Losing you would be the only thing that it would hurt me to lose. As long as I know you're safe, I can handle anything." "Okay, Nudge. Promise me you'll be careful." "I will. I love you, Iggy." "I love you, too, Nudge." With those last goodbyes, Max, Fang, and I flew into the sunset to save Angel from the horrors of the School.


	3. AttemptingtorescueAngel,gettingseparated

_**Nudge the Quileute2**_

_**Attempting to rescue Angel, finding out the truth about my past, getting separated from Max, returning to the School, rescuing Angel, and telling Angel the truth, well technically summarizing the truth**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

Max yelled over at me and Fang, "Are we clear on Plan B?" Fang silently nodded and I said, "Uh-uh. If we get separated somehow—though I don't see how we could unless one of us gets lost in a cloud—do you think that could happen? I haven't been inside a cloud before. I bet it's creepy. Can you see anything inside a cloud—...?" Then Max glared at me, and I quickly said, "We meet up at the northmost point of Lake Mead." Then she nodded at me and said, "And where's the School?" "In Death Valley, eight miles due north from Death Valley." Max said, "Good work, Nudge." Then I opened my mouth to say how it was ironic where the School was located and everything, but Max shot me her shut-up-now-Nudge look, so I did. Then Max and Fang started joking around and then I caught up with them. Turning my bright, intelligent, brown eyes toward Max, I said, "Max? I was thinking—I mean, right before we left? I just looked at Jeb's old files, you know? And some of them were about us. Or me. I saw my name on a page, my real name, Monique Amanda Black, who knew my name really was Monique Amanda Black, I'd just made that name up when I was arguing with Sam Uley—the other Alpha wolf from La Push, the tiny Quileute Native American Reservation down on the coast, fifteen miles south of the wet and rainy town of Forks, Washington—and then, like, some people's names, and then — Tipisco, Arizona. Tipisco is right on the Arizona-California border — I found it on the map. Real tiny town, it looked like. Anyway, I was thinking, none of us ever knew our real parents, and you know, we've always wondered, or at least I mean I've always wondered, but I guess the rest of you have too, like, whether they gave me up voluntarily or whether—" Max looked at me and said, "Nudge. I know how you feel. But those names might not have anything to do with you. We don't know if we were just test-tube babies or what. Please. Let's focus on rescuing Angel." Frowning, I thought about what Max had said, but I still wanted to know anyway. Then she said, "Nudge?" Sighing in reluctant defeat, I said, "Yeah, okay. I was just thinking." Max knew that I was probably going to still try check out that address. Then she said to me, "Nudge why did Ed obey you when you told him to stay with Iggy and Gazzy?" Taking a deep breath, I said, "Yes, he is older than me, but I have the Alpha gene. My great-grandfather, Ephraim Black was the last Alpha, and I got the Alpha gene from him. Now if I was 100% human and I'm in my wolf form and I say something and really mean it, Embry, I mean Ed, can't just ignore me. But since I'm 48% human, 50% Quileute, and 2% bird, apparently, I can also carry the Alpha's double timbre over to my human form as well. So that's why Embry, Ed, had to obey me." Fang's eyes kind of widened and Max stared at me and then she said, "Whoa." I shrugged casually and acting like it wasn't all that important, I said, "Can we just get to the School and rescue Angel and then get home?" and then we continued to fly ten or twelve degrees southwest. Then Max asked me, "So, Ed's real name is Embry. Embry what?" I sighed and said, "Embry Call. It's a Quileute thing, but apparently he's Sam Uley's half-brother, but his mother was a Makah and he took her last name, instead of joining the Uleys as Sam's half-brother." Angel woke up and was sore all over. What had happened to Max and everyone else? The last thing that Angel consciously remembered was the flock fighting to save her. Then the awful scent filled her nose and she knew where exactly where she was—the dreaded, hated, School. Then she heard the thoughts of a couple nearby kids and she tried to become friends with them, but she ended up scaring them instead and the whitecoats took her to Lab 7 for experiments. Iggy, Gazzy, and Ed began to plan ways to eliminate the Erasers, once and for all. I kept flying, even though I was really hungry and wanted to stop for food. Finally, I said, "Max, I'm starving." Max groaned and said, "Okay, okay. We need food." Then she said, "Fang, we need food. We need to refuel." They thought for a little while and then we stopped at someone's ski vacation home. We spent the night there and Gazzy, Embry, and Iggy set up an oil slick on one of the old abandoned logging roads that ran near our house. The Hummer was almost completely wrecked and Angel was sore from getting blood drawn and being shocked during a running experiment. Gazzy, Embry, and Iggy also set off a bomb, Big Boy, in the old rotten cabin that served as our playground, killing the two Erasers that had followed them. The next morning, Max rushed us out the window of the vacation home where we'd stayed and we flew towards the School, again, to rescue Angel. Then she left us and went to be Supergirl, defender of the weak. She got hurt and stayed with the girl who she saved, and rejoined us, three days later. Fang and I went to Lake Mead, stayed there for a little while. While we were there, we learned how to fly like a real hawk. Then we circled back to find Max, and then tried to find my parents. He tried to talk me out of it, but I ignored him. I told him that if there was a chance that my parents wanted me back, I would take it, but as I thought about, I realized that they would freak out, because I had died eleven years. Then Ari, and a couple of other Erasers attacked, right behind the house where my parents might be. I shot to my feet and then said, "Ari, you were just a little kid. What did they do to you? I'm sorry, Ari." Of course, he rejected my compassion and concern, and told that us that everyone else in the flock was dead. I felt myself shaking, trembling violently, could feel my human form shifting, feel the need to shift to wolf coursing through my veins. One thought ran through my mind, "Iggy, my Iggy, he can't be dead. He can't just be dead. I love him. I need him." Tears streaming down my face, I shook my head back and forth, fighting the phase and I attacked the nearest Eraser. After that, Fang and I returned to our cliff home, that we shared with the hawks. We were discussing what to do next, when three unusually large and clumsy hawks flew toward us. When they landed and I saw that it was Iggy, Gazzy, and Embry, I was thrilled. "You're not dead." Iggy rolled his eyes and said, "No. You're not dead, either. How about just hello?" Gazzy grinned at us and said, "Hi, guys. We couldn't stay home, there's Erasers all over the mountain. We'd be dog meat by now. So I figured we'd come here. Anybody got a problem with that?" I flung myself at Iggy, tears, not of sadness this time, but of happiness, streaming down my face and hugged him, hard. I kissed his cheek, his neck, and clung to him. He hugged me back and whispered, "Shh, Nudge, shh. It's okay. It's okay. I'm fine, I'm fine." I slowly calmed down, but I continued to hold Iggy's hand. Then we all started flying around and then Max came back. We paused for a few brief seconds at Lake Mead and then flew off, towards the School. Max stole money from a jerk's bank account, and then borrowed some random guy's van. She was terrible at driving it, but we stopped in a little town called Bennett to get some food. Max reminded all of us that even though we were in the middle of nowhere, pretty much, Erasers could be anyone and anywhere. We stopped at a restaurant and we all got some fresh food, not out of a Dumpster. Fang, Iggy, and Embry all got three double cheeseburgers, a chocolate shake, a soda with caffeine and sugar, three fries and three apple pies. Max ordered for me, Gazzy, and herself. She stepped up and said, "Um, let's see. Can I have two fried-chicken sandwiches, two double cheeseburgers, four fries, six apple pies, two vanilla shakes, one strawberry shake, and then two triple cheeseburgers, only hold the hamburger?" We got the food that Max ordered and joined the others in the back. Then we had to run, because Erasers were on the attack. Max. Fang, and I were taken back to the School, but as I was dragged out of the van, I screamed, struggling to get the double timbre into my voice, "Embry, get Iggy and Gazzy out of here." Then those three escaped and probably went back to Lake Mead. When I saw that Angel was still alive, thankfully, I was suddenly confused. How to explain? How did I tell her that she and the rest of the flock were more human than me? How did I tell her that I was a protector, that the Erasers were only one of my enemies and that there were these people, called the cold ones, who were traditionally my enemies? Angel heard all this and leaning towards me, asked, "What's that all about?" I shrugged innocently and then thought at her, "I'll explain later." She nodded and Max, Fang, and I all found out that Jeb was alive. I shook my head back and forth, to keep from exploding into a wolf, and concentrated on remaining human. Max learned that she was designed to save the world and then we were taken to the yard in the back of the School. Max bit Ari and then freed Angel, and Embry, Iggy, and Gazzy attacked the School with their hawk army. We all escaped and raced back to Lake Mead. Then we had a reunion and then slept for a little while. Then it started raining and while we enjoyed the feeling of the rain running down our faces, I went over to Angel. She said, "Nudge, I'm sure you or Ed, won't think I'm crazy, but one of the whitecoats went to this place, Forks, Washington and met this family, the Cullens, and she didn't think they were fully human and I don't know why. Can you tell me?" I grimaced slightly and then said, "Yes, if you promise not to freak out." She nodded. I asked, "Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from — the Quileutes, I mean?" Angel quickly and honestly said, "Not really." I shrugged and said, "Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood — supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees to survive like Noah and the ark." I frowned at Angel, abruptly and uncharacteristically, to show her how true all of these stories probably were. "Another legend claims that we descended from wolves — and that the wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them. Then there are the stories about the _cold ones_." Angel asked, "The cold ones?" I nodded and said, "Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land." Angel wondered, "Your great-grandfather?" I sighed and said, "He was a tribal elder, like my uncle. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf — well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves." "Werewolves have enemies?" "Only one. So you see, the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did — they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces." I grinned at Angel, suddenly, and then she asked, "If they weren't dangerous, then why...?" I sighed and launched back into my tale. "There's always a risk for humans to be around the cold ones, even if they're civilized like this clan was. You never know when they might get too hungry to resist." Angel said, "What do you mean, 'civilized'?" I nodded and said, "They claimed that they didn't hunt humans. They supposedly were somehow able to prey on animals instead." "So how does it fit in with the Cullens? Are they like the cold ones your great-grandfather met?" "No," I said, and then I took a deep breath, before I said, "They are the _same_ ones. There are more of them now, a new female and a new male, but the rest are the same. In my great-grandfather's time they already knew of the leader, Carlisle. He'd been here and gone before _your_ people had even arrived." Angel sighed and asked, "And what are they? What _are_ the cold ones?" I shivered and in a cold voice, said, "Blood drinkers. Your people call them vampires." Then I brightened and said, "I'm sorry, if I scared you Angel." She merely smiled sweetly at me and then said, "It's fine, Nudge, but thanks for telling me, but what are you acting like I should take all of this so seriously?" I sighed and then remembered that I'd been expecting this. "I'm half-Quileute, Angel, remember? Those legends are my stories, are a part of who I am. That's the not the worst of it though. The truth is, all of those stories are probably, if not actually, true." "What do you mean, Nudge?" "I mean, that, since I'm half-Quileute, and my great-grandfather had the wolf gene, I have it, and since he was only half-human, I'm less human than you or Fang or Max or Gazzy, or my soulmate, Iggy, I'd imprinted on him, and my enemies are more than the just the Erasers—they include the cold ones now." Angel crossed her arms over her chest and then said, "Then the cold ones are our enemies too, an enemy of two members of the flock is everyone's enemy." The next day Angel said, "The main files on us are at a place in New York, called the Institute, The Living Institute or something like that, I think. Nudge, the whitecoats told your parents that you died." I frowned and said, "So that's why Sam said I'd died eleven years ago." Then Angel told Iggy that his mother died and I felt the familiar tremors that meant I needed to phase and instead of fighting it, I said, "Guys, I'll be running patrol, if you need me ." Then after I'd finished running patrol and informing Angel that no cold ones were near, I returned, in my wolf form and Iggy walked over to me and I thought, **"Can** **I take Iggy running? Please, oh, please, oh, please, Max? I'll protect him and it'll help him cheer up somewhat and we really need some us time." **Angel looked up and said, "I'll translate for you, Nudge. Can I take Iggy running? Please, oh, please, oh please, oh, please, Max? I'll protect him and it'll help him cheer up somewhat and we really need some us time." Max nodded and I ran over to Iggy. He scrambled onto my back and I crouched down and then I thought, **"Hang on tight, Iggy,"** and then Angel said, "Iggy, she wants you to hold on tight." The two of us streaked off into the forest and then later we returned. Then she said, "Embry, your mother..." He interrupted and said, "Knows I exist. She had never believed the whitecoats, anyway." Then Angel told Gazzy that their parents had given the two of them away to the School for money, before she told Fang that his mother thought he had died and there was nothing about Max. We all went to sleep, but I curled next to Iggy, still in my wolf form and slept peacefully, knowing that my family was safe and that I was with my soulmate.


	4. GoingtoNewYorkandMaxgettingaVoiceinherhe

_**Nudge the Quileute3**_

_**Going to New York, and Max getting a Voice in her head**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

I was really excited when I learned that we would be going to the Institute to find out more information on our pasts and our families. Maybe, I would find some extremely convincing information to prove to Sam that I didn't die eleven years ago. Maybe, there would even be a map on how to get to La Push in the files that the whitecoats made on me. Maybe, there may information on how the whitecoats really got me from my parents, and who my family really is, because Sam could have been lying about that Jacob Black kid being my cousin, but I hope for his sake, that he wasn't lying, because if he was, I would take him down, hard, and teach him a lesson — you can't tell Monique Amanda Black lies and get away with it, because I will come and hunt you down and hurt you, because I am stronger than a regular grown-up man, plus I have the extra strength of the wolf in me, thus meaning I could take down one of the normal members of the Pack with ease, especially Sam. Ed, Max and Fang, all noticed that I have been working really hard during some of our training sparring matches, but only Ed and Angel know why — I want to teach Sam the aforementioned lesson by beating him up, without using my wolf form, because why use it, when I don't need to use it, because I am far more powerful and stronger than the rest of the Pack, excluding Embry or Ed, as my family, the flock—a group of birdkids, including me, call him. There are seven of us in the flock, — Edwin or Ed, Embry, Maximum Ride, Max, Fang, Iggy, my soulmate, which I so did not see coming, me, Nudge, the Gasman, Gasser or Gazzy, and Angel. Wait a half-a-bird-kid-minute, little flock joke, Sam doesn't know about the School. That's how Ed and I will prove that I didn't die eleven years ago, by using our memories and nightmares of our time at the School against Sam. Later that night, before reaching New York, Ed and I went off by ourselves, and I thought, "**Ed, I think I know a way we can prove to Sam that I didn't die eleven years**** ago."** _"What do you mean?" _**"We use some of our memories of the School against him, and then he'll have to believe that I didn't die eleven years ago**_._**" **_"Are you crazy? He'll have nightmares for_ _weeks."_ **"Oh, yeah, I didn't think of that. But it would teach him a lesson, right?"** _"Right,_ _but Monique..."_ **"Don't you but Monique, me, Embry Call."**_ "I really hope you know what you're getting us into."_ "**I do, Ed, plus it might even get Sam to help us against the School, and you'll have to trust me on this. now send me all of your memories of the School and all of your nightmares from the time we spent at the School."** _"Why can't I help you_ _tell Sam?"_ **"Sam can't hear your thoughts, but he can hear mine, remember?"** _"Oh, yeah, you're right. Good luck."_ **"Go back to the flock. I'll go solo and finish this mission." "Hello, Sam."** _**"Okay, Monique, what do you know that I don't know?" **_"**Do you hate nightmares? I really hope not, because you'll be having some nightmares for the next few weeks."** _**"What do you mean?"**_ **"Listen to some of this combination of Embry's memories and nightmares and my memories and nightmares and you'll find out." **_**"Okay, but I have a really bad feeling about this."**__**"No, please stop it. You're hurting me. Subjects 14 and 12, for the last time, you have no emotions. We do, too, have emotions. Jeb make them leave me alone. I want my mommy. Dad, help me. Shut up, Subject 14. A whitecoat slaps Nudge across the face and a bruise forms. Someone get a restraint to hold down Subject 12. Ow, that hurt. I wanna get out of here. Jeb, aren't you going to get us out of here, soon? Jeb, my head hurts. I don't feel good. Oh, well at least, I didn't throw up on Jeb. Guys, Subject 12 has thrown up eighteen times in one week and Subject 14 hasn't stopped throwing up since it finished that maze yesterday. I am not an it, you big meanies and stupid Erasers. No, no, no. Don't wanna go into the yard. Too scary. Too many whitecoats. **_**Yeah, that's really all you need to know. Sam, are you still alive?" **_**"Yes. That was way too sick for any one person to live through. When your uncle finds out, that place will end forever." **_**"Wait just a few more weeks, Sam for me and Embry to come to La Push with some information. And I do agree with you. The School needs to be stopped. There's this Institute place in New York and it just might have the information necessary to stop the****School." **_**"Okay, I trust that you know what you're doing Monique." **_**"As soon as Embry and I get the information, we will come to La Push and we will spread the news around the reservation. Of course, we'll need your help, too, Sam. Embry and I will bring T.V. commercials, newspaper ads, blogs, wanted ads, and posters, and other stuff like that and we're gonna put 'em up around La Push and Forks and... " **_**"Do you ever shut up, Monique?" **_**"No, Embry complains about that sometimes. Now if you'd let me finish, I was going to say and shut down the School."**_** "Good luck, Monique, if you didn't really die eleven years ago, but be careful. It could be dangerous, especially with the...." **_**"I know, I know, the bloodsuckers walking around." **_**"Wait you've never been to La Push, right, so how do you know our legends?" **_**"Right, but someone bought a book of Quileute Legends for me, for my ninth birthday." **After that conversation with Sam, Embry and I phased back to human and rejoined the rest of the flock. Immediately after breakfast, which was popcorn, we left for New York. Max crumpled suddenly, crashing into the ground, and her brain started acting funny. That night we reached New York and there was something going on, right below us. Iggy asked Max and Ed, the group leaders "Is that music?" Then when we learned that it was music, I said, Oh, so cool! Can we go? Please, Max, please? A real concert!" I was even bouncing up and down with excitement while flying, which is nearly impossible, unless you're me. Then when I learned that the artists were the Taylor Twins, I was thrilled beyond thrilled. They're my favorite singers ever. We slept in some of the trees in Central Park and I was thrilled about all the noise, but it bothered Iggy, because he couldn't tell echoes from where people and cars and things were. The entire time we were in New York City, though, I couldn't stop myself from worrying about Iggy, because I couldn't stand it if he got hurt, because he's my soulmate. I have to protect him and the others, from the blood drinkers, but he's my first priority. Of course, Embry helps me, but I'm the Alpha in my pack. I'll never admit this to him or anyone else, but I'm scared out of my wits. I'm just an eleven–year-old half-Quileute kid and not even a normal one and I'm the Alpha of a wolf pack of protectors. Well, technically, it's just me and Embry, but that's so I have someone to help me and I don't have to leave the flock and so Embry can feel normal and fit with in the group, because he's like me—half-Quileute, but not normal, not half-human. I am 50% Quileute, 48% African American, and 2% bird. Embry's 50% Quileute, 48% Makah, and 2% bird. We don't really have any secrets in our family, because Angel can read our minds and Embry and I can read each other's minds, when we're in our wolf forms. When we've phased to wolf, Angel usually translates our conversations for the rest of the flock. When I laid down for the night, Angel poked me and said, "Sam knows everything, doesn't he?" I nodded weakly and said, "That was the one thing in my plan that I hadn't expected. He and the rest of his pack are going to help us fight the School and the whitecoats." Angel nodded and then said, "You're telling Max and everyone else, tomorrow morning. Don't worry, I'll remind you." The next day, after we were all awake and ready to start the new day, I said, "Guys, there's something you need to know. Do you all remember that guy, Sam, who was giving me a hard time about being Monique Amanda Black? Well, he's helping us now, him and his pack, the pack that Embry came from. They're going to alert the tribal elders in La Push, who are going to tell the authorities in Forks, I think, about the School and the whitecoats and they'll help us shut _**THEM **_down." Max rolled her eyes at me and then said, "Wow, Nudge, you really know to get us allies, but do they know about all of us?" I shook my head and then said, "Not yet; they'll learn about everyone else after we," gesturing to the entire flock as a single unit, "go to La Push." After we woke up and I had told everyone my news, we walked around the park and we got some roasted peanuts. They tasted great. Then some Erasers saw us and followed us, but we merged into a group of school kids going to the Central Park Zoo and I finally got to see what a zoo was like. It was pretty cool, minus the fact that all the animals were locked up, like I was, back at the School. I noticed that this bugged Max, which is probably why she wanted to leave so suddenly, other than the fact that she didn't want to upchuck in front of all the impressionable kids who were at the zoo, and was part of the group we'd merged into. We flew away and then went to a library, the New York Public Library of Humanities and Sciences and Max tried to find the Institute online. She didn't find anything, but she did find a funny institute: The Institute for Realizing Your Pet's Potential. We went into a subway station to catch a subway back to Central Park, but then we slept in the tunnel with a bunch of other homeless people. Then Max and Fang were visited by some weird hacker guy and Max got a Voice in her head. We went and bought some honey-roasted peanuts and then we went AFO Schmidt, the world's greatest toy store and someone bought a stuffed angel bear for Angel. She named it Celeste, which I think is kinda cute. I, of course, already had my angel, Iggy.


	5. Maxalmostgettingkidnappedbyaneraser,sam,

_**Nudge the Quileute4**_

_**Max almost getting kidnapped by an Eraser, Sam, Paul, Jared, and my cousin, Jacob Black, joining us in New York, finding the building that the Institute's in, going out to dinner, but having to leave instead of getting our food, sending Sam, Paul, Jared, and Jake back to La Push, and getting the chance to get makeovers **_

_**Nudge's POV**_

We started walking around New York City and then we ran into a couple Erasers. We all spun around and started running back the way we had come. Then we heard a sickening and crunching noise and Fang yelled up to us, "Bicycle messenger took an Eraser out!" I giggled and then I heard Angel screaming. I spun around and started running after Max and the Eraser. I trembled as I ran and suddenly fell forward; turning into a giant, mad wolf that wanted some Eraser blood. Embry caught up to me and dragged me down an alleyway and I phased back to human and got changed, like I usually have to. We then ran after the Eraser and Max and I saw a group of tan-skinned people running after Max and the Eraser. I looked up at Embry and asked, "Who are _they_?" Embry stared at the guys and then said, "That's Sam Uley, Paul, Jared, and your cousin, Jacob Black, who is one of my best friends from La Push, where your uncle is currently living, at least, that's where he was living the last time I checked." I nodded and said, "Okay." He stared at me and I said, "What?" "No two hundred word sentences? Wow, that's a first." I rolled my eyes and said, "Shut up, Ed." He grinned and then after we ditched the dead Eraser, Sam, Jacob, Paul, and Jared continued to follow us. We went down a dark alley and when Paul learned that everyone in the flock knew that Embry and I were werewolves, he flipped out. When he phased and put my family in danger, I raced towards him, and launched myself into the air, turning into a giant cream-colored wolf. I attacked Paul and Embry bet against Jared that I would hurt Paul and Embry was right. I managed to bite Paul's arm pretty hard. I saw that he was stunned and I grinned and thought, **"Well, I just won." **Sam asked, _**"What do you mean, Monique?" **_**"Well, I was taught to expect pain and if you're surprised by the pain, you just lost."** Sam rolled his eyes at me and then all three of us phased back to human and headed towards Central Park to get some sleep that night. Max got a credit card and then some cops showed up and Angel lost Celeste. I felt really bad for her. We went into the Saint Patrick's Cathedral to hide from the police, and we hid there for a few minutes and then Max had another headache. When we learned what Max had seen, we set out again, once more, to find the Institute for Higher Living. We found the building, but the security guard chased us away. Then Gazzy freaked out and it scared me, because he was normally the tough one. He punched a mailbox and screamed, "I hate this! I hate everything! Angel lost Celeste, Max's head's busted, we're all hungry, I hate everything!" Then we went to this fancy restaurant called "The Garden Tavern." Gazzy ordered two orders of chicken tenders, a fruit cocktail, fries, and two glasses of milk to start, but our waiter, Jason, merely stared at Gazzy like he'd grown a second head. Angel ordered the prime rib and everything that came with it and a soda and lemonade. I ordered two lasagna primaveras, a salad, some bread, and some milk. Max ordered the shrimp cocktail, the maple-glazed pork loin with the cabbage and potatoes and everything, the house salad with bleu cheese dressing and a lemonade and an iced tea. Fang ordered the lobster bisque, the prime rib and a big bottle of water. Iggy originally ordered the spaghetti and meatballs, but then got the rack of lamb and potatoes and spinach and a merlot-rosemary sauce and some bread and a couple glasses of milk. Sam, Embry, Paul, Jared, and Jake all ordered two orders of chicken tenders, a fruit cocktail, two glasses of milk, a prime rib and everything that goes with it, a soda, lemonade, two lasagna primaveras, a salad, some bread, some milk, the shrimp cocktail, the maple-glazed pork loin with the cabbages and potatoes and everything, the house salad with bleu cheese dressing, a lemonade, an iced tea, the lobster bisque, the prime rib, a big bottle of water, the spaghetti and meatballs, but got the rack of lamb, potatoes, spinach, a merlot-rosemary sauce, some bread, and a couple of glasses of milk. Of course, then Jason got the manager and we had to leave and we never got our food. We flew away and Fang and Max agreed to pull an "Up and away," Iggy and I were surprised, Gazzy was thrilled, and Angel and Ed got this identical determined expressions on their faces. We stopped in the park, and Ari and the Erasers appeared and Angel got Celeste back. I then told Sam to take Paul, Jared, and Jake back to La Push and Embry and I would go home, to La Push, the first time we had an opportunity. The flock and I all had to hide in the 90th floor of a ninety-story apartment building. It was okay, but then Fang and Embry went and got some breakfast and some newspapers and now we couldn't go find the Institute anymore. We snuck out quietly, but then some overly excited, possibly drugged, guy leapt out in front of Max and said, "You guys are perfect." Of course, Fang immediately asked, "Perfect for what?" The crazy guy, motioning to a large store sign that said, "U'Do: Tomorrow's styles today, and said, "We're having a makeover fest! You guys can have total makeovers for _free _— as long as your stylist gets to do whatever he or she wants." I looked interestedly and asked, "Like what?" He immediately said, "Makeup, hairstyle, everything. Except tattoos. We'd need a note from your parents." Of course, Max had to rain on the parade and muttered under her breath, "Well, that's out." I tugged on her sleeve and said, "I want to do it, Max! It sounds so much fun! Can we do it, Max? I want to get a makeover!" Then Max hesitated and then saw a couple of teenage girls emerging from the U'Do store and then turning to the guy, giving Fang a meaningful look, and said, "I'm up for it. We'd love to be _made over_. Make us look completely different."


	6. GettingmakeoversandFangalmostgettingkill

_**Nudge the Quileute5**_

_**Getting makeovers, living at the beach, Fang almost getting killed by Ari, and returning to New York City**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

My hair had been straightened, cut in layers, and streaked with blond highlights. I loved my new look. Gazzy was completely dressed in some camouflage, and some of his hair was bleached white, tipped with blue, and spiky. Fang's hair was cut shorter, but one large chunk flopped over his eyes, and it was colored with various shades of tan, making it look like a hawk's feathers and was wearing a slightly different, but still black outfit. Angel's hair had put into cornrows and she was wearing a pair of cargo pants, a T-shirt, and a fluffy jacket. Iggy's hair was also spiked and was colored black at the tips, I just thought it really made him look amazing, and he got his ear pierced. Embry was wearing camouflage like Gazzy, but and Embry's hair was spiked, and it was colored a pale white, like the color of the cold ones' skin white, and it was a little unnerving, for me and Embry. Max's braid was chopped off, streaked with chunky hot pink, really put on makeup with her, and she was wearing a T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a new, really cool, jean jacket. We flew away and camped out by the beach outside of New York City. While we were at the beach, Max realized that everything was really just a great big game, we learned that we couldn't leave a public and highly populated place without causing a riot, and Angel learned she could breathe underwater—when she first learned how to breathe underwater, the rest of us all thought she had drowned. Then the night, Ari and a group of Erasers attacked us. Fang got really mad at Ari and attacked Ari, and Gazzy, Angel, and I leapt into the air, and hovered above the rest of the flock. Ed, Max, and Iggy were held back by some of the other Erasers, and Ed almost phased, but I screamed down to him, "Don't phase, Embry. It's too risky." When I saw Iggy being held back by the Erasers, I nearly attacked the two Erasers holding him back and phased, but Angel looked at me and thought to me, _"Nudge, Max wants you up in the sky to protect me."_ I weakly nodded and then Jeb arrived and then the Erasers all left after Jeb had scolded Max and walked away. Fang looked someone had thrown him off a cliff, onto some cement. We returned to New York and stayed in the subway station where Max had originally gotten the Voice that was in her head.


	7. The Institute For Higher Living

_**Nudge the Quileute6**_

_**The Institute For Higher Living**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

Max then woke all of us up and said, "We're going to find the Institute, tonight." We walked along the tunnels — I was holding Iggy's hand — and we soon passed a train station and ended up going through a grate that led to the New York City Sewer System. It was totally gross and I hated every minute of walking through the tunnels. Iggy picked the lock on a door and we all went down some really long steps. Max opened the first door after the steps and then opened a second door and we all stepped forward into the Institute. Max tried to hack into the computer, but she failed, she said, "This is pointless." I walked over to her and asked, "What's wrong, Max?" She immediately said, "Who am I kidding? There's no way for me to crack the password. We've come all this way for _nothing._ I'm such a loser! I can't stand it!" Then I pressed my hand on the computer monitor and began to murmur softly to myself and then I whispered in Max's ear, "Try XjnP7OHj4." When it worked, Max was impressed and then when I touched a nearby chair, I learned that I had a new skill, besides turning into a giant wolf. Max quickly found some information on our parents, but when we were just about to ready to get out of there, Gazzy had pulled aside a curtain, revealing another lab room with lab stations, computers and...._cages_, cages with sleeping forms in them, child-size forms, dozens of them, mutants, just like us. I was a little freaked out by that, but then we entered this second room, I saw another birdkid, and I felt pain and rage over what this child probably had suffered at the hands of the whitecoats. Then Max ordered us to start popping open as many of the cages as we could and with the mutants, we fled the Institute. We reached the sewers and then Ari attacked. When Ari slipped and fell, Max screamed back at Fang, "Get them out of here!" I spun and yelled to Ed, "Embry, go with Fang and make sure all the other mutants get out of here safely!" Max and Ari fought again, like usual, and then Max killed Ari. We all ran away and Jeb screamed after Max, _"He was my son!"_ Max spun and faced Jeb and yelled back, "Why are you doing this?" Why this game? This test? Look at what you've done." Jeb stopped yelling and calmly said, "Max, you want answers to the secrets of life and that's not how it works. Not for anyone, not even you. I'm your friend. Never forget that." Max snapped back at Jeb, "I already have!" She caught up with Angel and me and yelled at the two of us, "Take a right!" Then Jeb screamed after the rest of us, especially Max, "You killed your own _brother_!" We all rejoined Embry and Fang and then we went to a little hidden area to wait out a rainstorm and we got a dog, which Angel had stolen from the Institute, named Total. We all sat down when we were several miles away from New York City and we went over our files. Gazzy found where his and Angel's parents lived, Fang found his parents, Embry knew where his mother was, but still didn't know who his father was, and Gazzy found Iggy his mother and told Iggy that his father was dead. I hugged Iggy hard, because I felt bad for him, because his father had died before he could meet him. Max didn't find anything in the files on her, which led me to believe that someone had obviously destroyed the files on Max, so we couldn't find out who her parents were. Then I found my name and I quickly scanned the information around it, and most of the information didn't make any sense. N88034gnh (Monique Amanda Black): Parents Melanie and Joseph Black are ahatheslsdhflkhdslkfhds fhtheo theoth . ':);;;;,;²__€409207jhgjggh. Uncle Billy Black and cousin Jacob Black are still alive in La Push, Washington State, fifteen miles south of the constantly rainy town of Forks, Washington State. Then we all agreed that once we got the information to make sense, we would tell someone, anyone who would listen to us and believe us, so we could stop the School.


	8. FangalmostdyingafterafightwithAri,nowafl

_**Nudge the Quileute7**_

_**Fang almost dying after a fight with Ari, now a flying Eraser, staying with Anne Walker, Iggy finding his parents, Iggy staying with them, and my reactions to what happened to Iggy, Iggy rejoining us, and leaving Anne's.**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

We headed towards Washington D.C. and then we were attack by some flying Erasers. Gazzy kicked one and knocked it off-balance and it fell to its death. Angel made another Eraser fall out of the sky just by telling it to. Fang and Ed took down three Erasers. Iggy blasted one Eraser's chest out and Max saved me from being killed by another Eraser. Ari attacked Max, but then Fang took the hit intended for her and as we flew along, Fang started spiraling toward the earth, at a sickeningly fast pace. Max told me to take Angel and Gazzy away, and that Ed would come with us, but I said no. "Max, you don't know this, but every minute I was away from Iggy while we were trying to rescue Angel was agony for me. I can't go through that again." We all went to the hospital and the next day, we went to live with a FBI agent named Anne Walker. Ed and I used our other identities — Embry Call and Monique Amanda Black — with the other agents. I don't agree with Max that Anne's house isn't just a good place for us to be. When we were registered for school, Anne signed us up to go the North Adams School in Virginia, but I have to admit the headhunter, principal guy, did creep me out a lot. I did meet some nice people there, and I soon had a couple of friends that I sat next to, during lunch, which was the only time I ever set eyes on Iggy during the whole school day. Of course, my friends, who thought that Jeff Walker, Iggy's fake name, was my brother, and as soon as Iggy and I were back at Anne's house, we weren't "siblings" anymore, we were soulmates. After the trip to Washington D.C. and Max and Angel met the President, we all talked Max into staying with Anne for Thanksgiving. Of course, three weeks earlier, Gazzy, Iggy, and Ed got us all grounded for setting off another bomb in the school. Before the meal, though, Anne made us all say what we were thankful for. We all helped Anne make dinner and then fifteen minutes later, we were all sitting around the dining-room table. Everything looked very schmancy. We had a white tablecloth and cloth napkins. Candles were lit. The food was on the table, looking like all the pictures on the packages. Gazzy was holding his fork and knife upright on the table, and Max frowned at him and shook her head, slightly. Then he put them down. "How about we go around and give thanks individually?" Anne said. "Ariel? Why don't you go first?" "Uh…" Angel glanced over at Max nervously, and after Max smiled at her and Angel read Max's thoughts, she started. She said a lot of nice things, and so did Gazzy. After Gazzy, Anne looked at me and said, "Monique?" I immediately started. "I'm thankful for food and Max, Nick, Zephyr, and Ariel and my half-cousin/possibly half-second cousin/or Sam's half-brother, Embry. And I'm thankful I have big brown eyes and long lashes. I'm thankful that we could stay here for a while. I'm thankful for MTV. And gummy worms. But most important, I'm thankful for my soulmate, Jeff Walker and that I found him." Iggy blushed and he was slightly embarrassed by that last part. Then after Anne asked him to start, he said, "Um, what Zephyr said. And more than anything else, I'm especially thankful for my soulmate, Monique, and that she found me." Then Fang, Max, and Embry all said the same thing that Gazzy said and then that night we learned that they had possibly found Iggy's parents. When I found out, I was really happy for Iggy, but I was afraid that it would mean that I wouldn't be with him anymore. "Oh, my gosh, Iggy. I can't believe it. I mean, we've been dreaming about our parents forever and, I'm really glad that's going to be you who's going to get your parents back first, and..." I clamped up suddenly, realizing that if I rambled too long, I would reveal that I didn't want Iggy to leave me. We went to the house where Max and Fang might have found Iggy's parents, but I was totally nervous and was really upset. Iggy knew right away that the slightest thing was definitely going to set me off, this time around. When Iggy's possible parents let us, Max sat next to Iggy on one side and when I sit next to him on his other side, his mother sat down. I started trembling with rage, and Iggy saw that I was about to phase, and then he asked, "Uh, Mrs. Griffiths, is it okay if my girlfriend, Monique sits there? We can't be separated." She slid over to the left enough for me to squeeze in, and then muttered, "James would be, or is, too young to have a girlfriend, and you, young lady, are too young to have a boyfriend." Embry jumped up and grabbed my waist, and dragged me away, and said, "She's like me. Half-Quileute." When I returned, I looked at Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths and said, "Don't make me angry." I also was going to make, a chart of information on my friends and family for Iggy, based on what I knew, but I didn't have enough time. I managed to find out most of this stuff from spying on a group of the whitecoats, when we were in the Institute and I could see on the computer that the receptionist person had. When Mrs. Griffiths said that Iggy would be staying with them, I almost started crying. Instead of sticking around and saying goodbye, I ran away. Later, I came back and when Iggy turned to me, I choked out, "Bye, Iggy. I'll miss more than anybody else in the flock." I returned to Anne's house and was instantly depressed. I couldn't breathe, but to prevent anyone from suspecting anything was wrong I acted dull, emotionless, and lifeless. Then, when we returned to school and after the headhunter had lectured us and everyone learned that Jeff was missing, some of my friends came over to talk to me and asked what had happened, and I said, "I don't know. I can't talk about what happened. I don't even know. Just leave me alone." I felt a giant hole ripping open again, and again, so I grabbed at my chest and fought back against the pain, but desperately wishing my friends would leave me alone. And then I ran off, in tears, towards my first class. I lowered my head to the top of my desk where I sat and focused on remaining human, on not phasing. Then I heard Max screaming, "Bandada! Bezheet! See-chass! Move! Move! Move!" at the top of her lungs, and I sprang out of my seat and raced to the door and exploded out. I was getting out of here. I was so relieved though. We returned to Anne's and learned that she was one of _**THEM. **_I was really upset, but after we ran away from the Erasers, I was happier, because Iggy had come back. He said it because he missed everyone in the flock too much, but I knew that he meant that he could stand to be away from me anymore. We went back to a bat cave, which we had found weeks earlier and then left for Florida.


	9. The Beach and Disney World

_**Nudge the Quileute8**_

_**The beach and Disney World**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

After we left Anne's house, Max took us to the beach, and then she nearly killed herself trying to get rid of a tracer chip in her arm. It really scared me, but then Fang and Ed yelled at her. Ed snapped at Max, "Maximum Ride, how can you go off and do this to us? For crying out loud, everyone listens to you, even me! From now, you can't go charging off!" Max glared up at Ed and said, "I do not go charging off!" We all looked at her and said, "Yes, you do." Max was mad at us, but she started crying, and then we all played on the beach. I put some shells in Iggy's hand, so he could feel them. Gazzy, Ed, and Angel were swimming. Angel learned she could talk to fish and freaked Max out. Then we spent the night at the beach and then we left for Florida. We discovered an Itex headquarters in southern Florida and as we flew towards it, we _had_ to pass over Disney World. We all begged Max to take us there, and when she looked at me; I quickly gave her Bambi eyes. It always works. We went to the park and we went on Pirates of the Caribbean, and a couple other rides. My favorite ride was Splash Mountain, but Total didn't like it, but he didn't even get wet. We flew away, but then we had to split up, when Max spotted a chopper. We stole a car, and since I'd been reading Jeb's car magazines, I knew how to get our car running. We drove southward, got pulled over by a cop, but then Angel got the cop to leave us alone. We reached the Itex headquarters in Florida and Ed, Max, and Fang were ready to tour the headquarters, but we'd missed the last tour.


	10. Itex

_**Nudge the Quileute9**_

_**Itex**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

We went to a hotel and we hid away in the hotel. Max got replaced with a clone—we called her Max II—and we went on the tour. That night we broke in, but I think that Max II overdid it with the paranoia. I hacked into the computer and learned that the School was somehow connected with Itex. Then Iggy, who was hiding underneath a desk, said that someone was coming and then Ari attacked us. Gazzy freaked out when he saw a group of spiders and some rats attacked me. Fang got stuck in a cage and Angel was bitten by Ari. Then Ed and I caught the scent of a cold one and instinct took over—we attacked. Max, the real Max, arrived and fought with Max II, and Max won. When Max's nose started bleeding, it distracted the cold one from our battle and Ed and I were able to kill it. Then Iggy and Gazzy set off a bomb, blasting a huge hole in the side and we escaped. We went to the Everglades and camped there for one night. Then we left and headed due west to escape Itex, the School, and the Institute, so we would be free to stop _**THEM**_, and _**SAVE THE WORLD!!! **__**J**_


	11. ReturningtotheSchoolbeingtoldI'vebeens

_**Nudge the Quileute10**_

_**Returning to the School, being told I've been slated for termination, learning about my expiration date, meeting Roland Ter Borcht, learning about and warning the Packs about the By-Half, meeting the Cullens, talking to Esme Cullen, Carlisle Cullen's wife, and splitting up**_

_**Nudge's POV **_

I was tired and worn out from the fight in the Itex headquarters, even though I hadn't fought anyone. I managed to get in the van we'd stolen so we could head west, Max's idea, like every other plan we, and by we, I mean she comes up with. The rest of us don't get a say in anything, except for when we went to Disney World. I was honking the horn as we entered Louisiana and it bugged Max. I stopped, because Max yelled at me, well not technically, but she said to stop.

We all went to a football game, Iggy started begging Fang to continue describing the cheerleaders to him and I hissed angrily under my breath, and Iggy quickly said, "Oh, but I'm sure that none of them are as beautiful as you are, Nudge." Then someone, probably some annoying kid who had nothing better to do but get involved in other people's business recognized us and we had to run away and hide, again, like we always do.

We found a little canyon, and we hid out and camped there, like usual these days, because we've been living in caves and canyons for a little while now. I am a little sick and tired of caves and canyons and wished we had something besides desert rat. I hate rat. I admit it, I'm of the girly-girl, the sissy one, in the flock.

The flock's Ed, or Embry Call, Maximum, Max, Ride, Fang, Iggy, my soulmate, the Gasman, or Gazzy or Gasser, me, Nudge, or Monique Amanda Black, and Angel. Oh yeah, there's also Angel's talking dog, Total.

Max and Fang left to find the rest of us a new home, and Ed and Iggy were left in charge, but mostly it was Ed who was in charge. Ed told Iggy and me, that even though Max and Fang were gone, we couldn't go off and be all lovey-dovey with whole imprinter/imprintee relationship thing.

Then, after Max and Fang were gone for a few days, were attacked by a group of Erasers. We were just flying around, goofing off, having fun, and then they attacked us. Angel was confused and said, "I didn't feel them coming." I frowned and launched into the fight and then, when the fight was almost over, I heard Gazzy yell, "Yo! Fire in the hole!" I rocketed out of there as fast as I could and then we learned that the new Erasers were robots.

A few days later, we were attacked again, and this time we were captured. I was terrified about the whitecoats and what was going to happen to us. It was going to be an experiment, awful and painful, usually involving needles, flashing lights and scary sounds.

I shook my head to dispel my thoughts and that's when the Flyboys stuffed the sack over my head. I saw them put the sack over Iggy's head, and I fought back, hard. I twisted, writhed, squirmed, wriggled, struggled, and trembled, with a rage that I couldn't hold in, but they eventually overpowered me, and forced the sack on over my head. I smelled something that was sickly sweet and it burned my nose. When I regained consciousness, I had no idea where Angel was and I already had several bruises forming on my arms and legs.

I did know one thing though, we had to find and rescue Angel and get out of here. I told the others and then, after the Flyboys left the truck, I had an idea. I quickly said, "Gazzy, Total, Iggy, get me and Ed, mad, really mad." Iggy asked, "So you want us to get you and Ed so you can phase, but how are we supposed to avoid getting hurt?" I said, "Stay back though. Ed and I phase to wolf, free you guys, Gazzy, you and Total will climb on Ed's back, Ig, you'll be on my back, and then we'll race out of here for La Push." Just seconds after Ed and I phased and freed Gazzy and Iggy and Total, the Flyboys reentered the truck, but Ed and I plowed right through the Flyboys.

We began to run and I thought to Ed, **"The sooner we reach La Push, the sooner we'll be free, safe, and clear." **Ed thought back to me, _"I agree, Monique."_ **"Have we lost them?"** I thought/screamed to Ed. He sniffed the air and said, _"No, but we're close to Forks. I can smell the Cullens."_** "Is that good or bad?" **_"Good, that also means we're at least fifteen miles away from La Push." _**"Good. The sooner we get to La Push, we'll be safe, but we might have to hide with the bloodsuckers." **_"I agree, but I really hope we don't have to, Monique."_

That's when we were recaptured by the Flyboys. They tied Iggy, Gazzy, and Total back up and forced me and Ed to phase back to human. They gave us some clean clothes and forced us to get changed and then we were tied up and all five of us were thrown back in the truck.

Then I heard a racket and I really hoped that Max and Fang would get thrown in, all messy and sore and looking like they'd just fought for their lives and ours, too, but it was only Jeb and Ari. I rolled my eyes and looked like I was bored, and thought, **"Sure, Jeb and Ari. Show me something new,"** and that's when I caught sight of Angel. I couldn't believe that Angel would betray us, but then Max arrived and Angel told Max that she no longer cared about and wanted nothing more to do with us.

When I woke up later, I realized, right away, I knew where we were, the School. I glanced over at Max and when I looked at her, I knew right away that she had no plan, we were in way, way, way, over our heads, and we were doomed.

Later, Anne and Jeb came to visit us and we were told that everything that had happened to us had all been a dream. I glared at Angel and snapped, "Are you here to say goodbye, traitor?" Angel flinched, and even though I felt slightly guilty, I was glad that I had hurt her half as much as she had hurt us.

I rolled my eyes and said, "So, if everything that happened to us was a dream, was Jacob, Sam, Paul, Jared, and my Uncle Billy Black all just a dream?" Jeb nodded and said slowly, "Yes. The Quileute legends are merely spooky, old, scary stories and I can prove it. Embry Call and Monique Amanda Black, I want the two of you to try to phase."

Ed and I started shaking like crazy, vibrating our beds, but nothing happened. We were finally tired out and we both frowned and Ed and I both thought _**"We should've phased by now."**_ Jeb, Angel, and Anne all left the room and Max attempted to break the bonds holding her down, but failed.

Ari came and gave Max a tour of the School, while the rest of us were asleep and then the next day, we met a creepy, psycho whitecoat guy named Roland ter Borcht. I decided right away that I didn't like him, and he started talking about us like we weren't even there. "Dese are dey?" Max rudely said, "We be them."

I was tired of being treated like an experiment and then he motioned to Max and said, "Dis vould be de vun called Max?" Max snapped, "I _would_ not only be Max, I _am_ Max. In fact, I've always been Max and always will be." "Yes, I can see vhy dey've been slated for extermination." Max snickered and shot back, "And I can see why you were voted 'least popular' in you class. So, I guess we're even." He stared at me and said, "Dis vun can't control her mouth or, obviously, her brain. Something vent wrong vis her thought processes, clearly." I glared back at him and snapped at him, "Bite me." He judged us and said that Ed was never supposed to have designed, that Ed was a mistake right from the very beginning. Then he started on Iggy. "Dis vun — vell, you can see it for yourself. Multiple defects. A complete failure." Iggy glared in ter Borcht's general direction and muttered, "Takes one to know one."

I grinned with pleasure and then the creepy guy, ter Borcht, I'm gonna call him creepy guy from now on, started questioning us. Gazzy smart-mouthed to the scientist who snapped, "Enough. You. Do you haf any qualities dat distinguish you in any way?" I faked thinking and then said, "You mean, like, besides the _wings_." He nodded and said, "Yes. Besides the vings." "Hmm. Besides the vings. Umm...I once ate nine Snickers bars in one sitting. Without barfing. That was a record!" He scoffed and said, "Hardly a special talent." I shot back, "Yeah? Let's see _you_ do it."

Then he talked to Iggy and I listened closely to every word that Iggy said. "Does anysing you vork properly?" "Well, I have a highly developed sense of irony." When he called Iggy a liability, I was mad. "You are a liability to your group. I assume you always hold on to someone's shirt, yes? Following dem closely?" Iggy grinned and quickly said, "Only when I'm trying to steal their dessert." Max said to the assistant guy who obviously worked for ter Borcht, "Write that down. He's a notorious dessert stealer."

We all gave him a hard time and he left the room, furious. Afterwards, Ari gave Max another tour and she told what she had learned about the By-Half Plan. Ed and I both thought, at the exact same time, _**"We have to warn Sam, Jacob, and the rest of the Pack."**_ Someone came and tried to take Iggy and Gazzy away for testing the next day. Max told him off and then our room was gassed and we all passed out.

When we woke up, we were stuck in a giant cage, in the yard at the back of the School. Angel attacked ter Borcht and some of the other whitecoats and Ari busted us of the cage. He, Angel, and Total attacked the whitecoats, and then we escaped. Max yelled to Ari to come with us, which made me pretty upset.

Max led us back to the unused ski cabin we'd hid in when we were trying to rescue Angel and after Ed and I ate, we slipped out and headed for La Push. I paused two miles and said, "Ed, you warn Sam and the rest of La Push. I'll deal with the bloodsuckers and Forks."

Ed ran off to Emily's house and when he got there, he pounded the door, fear and anger racing through his veins. Sam opened the door and said, "Hey, Embry." "Hi, Sam, Collin, Brady, Paul, Jared, Quil, Emily, Rebecca, Claire, and Kim. There's this group of evil whitecoats and they're planning to annihilate half of the human population and a lot of people are in danger, like Billy Black." Sam quickly said, "Quil, go on to that blog, that was made by some Fang kid, you've been reading lately." "I know that Fang. He's like my brother. Quil, keep reading that blog. It's one of the only things that will help you help me and my friends save the world."

I ran to the Cullen place as fast as I could, thinking, **"Whitecoats. Danger. By-Half Plan. 3,000,000,000 people will be murdered. We **_**have**_** to stop them. Not much time. Don't know when plan will begin. Running out of time. Expiration dates. Save world. Stop School. Stop the Director, whoever that is. Don't let them win. Hurry. Scary." **Jake heard me and had me phase back to human, go inside where I informed the Cullens of the danger from the By-Half Plan to Bella. "Listen, my name's Monique Amanda Black and I'm Jacob's cousin. That's not important right now. What is important is that there's this group of evil 'whitecoats' or scientists who are planning to kill half of the world's population—3,000,000,000 people, probably including Bella—basically anyone who isn't perfect, isn't healthy. They're calling it the "By-Half Plan" or the "Re-Evolution Plan." It's really dangerous. I don't when the whitecoats will put their plan into action or how much time we have left, but I don't think it's that much, and not to mention the expiration dates, or my predetermined death date, and we have to save the world, stop the School, and the Director, whoever that is, not let the whitecoats win, and hurry and I'm warning you right now, this will be scary. But the most important thing is remember is this. Trust no whitecoats." "What about Carlisle?" one of the Cullens asked, Carlisle's wife, I'm guessing. She had long, luxurious hair that flowed loosely in caramel-colored tendrils, and golden eyes, like the rest of the Cullens. She seemed like she would be everyone's dream mother. Just by looking at her, I could see that. "He's a whitecoat, I guess, but he's good. He would never hurt anyone." "Well, uh..." "Call me Esme, Monique." "Well, Esme, in that case, trust only Carlisle. And here's a website. It's sort of my brother's blog." I hacked into the computer and got them onto the website and Esme scanned the list of who was going to be killed and gasped in horror. "Oh, no. Bella!" Jacob glared and muttered, "Edward, you have to ask my cousin." Edward, the bronze-haired boy, looked at me and said, "Monique, since you and Jacob are the true Alphas, I have to ask your permission as well as his, can I save Bella?" I glared at him and said, "You save her, I don't care how you do it, in fact, you don't save her, I'm going to come back her and kill you. Got that, Cullen? I gotta go." I raced off, phased back to wolf and thought, **"Ed, we have to get back with the others before Max discovers us gone."**

We got back with the others and then later, the very next day in fact, we learned that Fang wanted to leave, just because Ari had joined us. I couldn't believe what was happening. I thought hard and said, "Max." Iggy said "Fang," and I felt my heart shattering all over again. I said, "Embry, go with Fang, and protect Iggy." Gazzy went with Fang, and Angel, Total, and Ari all came with me and Max.


	12. SavingtheworldNudge

_**Nudge the Quileute11**_

_**Saving the World and Reuniting the Flock**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

I stood there, stunned for a few minutes after the boys left. Then I said, "Fang shouldn't have left. We'd agreed that we would stick together no matter what happens. Now, I'm gonna, I just gotta, I can't, Max can we just get out of here, now, before the pain of the lack of _**HIM**_, catches up to me?" Max nodded and said, "Let's go to Europe." On the way to Europe, Max asked, "Is _**HIM**_ who I think it is? Iggy?" Wincing, I said, "Yeah, and uh, this goes for everyone here, the name Iggy—"wince—"is not to be mentioned during this trip. You are to refer to _**HIM**_ as _**HIM**_, _**HE**_, and _**HIS**_. This rule will include anything relating to _**HIM**_, as well, as long as _**HE'S**_ not here with us, physically."

We went to England. We went on a tour of London and then I went online and looked for the Itex headquarters in England. We went to that headquarters, but then Max's Voice told her something, and she told us that France was calling our name. I said, "They're yelling for flying bird kids?" Max nodded and said, "Yep." We flew, like flew, flew, with our wings, and we went to France. We managed to talk Max into taking us to Paris, and I made everyone go shopping. What? I like fashion and shopping. Supposedly, the little pixie Cullen girl, her name's Alice Cullen, likes fashion and shopping too.

We then went to Germany and Max said, "Okay, nobody leave their socks lying around. That would send them right over the edge." I giggled under my breath and then we found the Itex world headquarters, outside a little German town called Lendeheim. We crawled closer, and then I saw a Nudge II. That was going to be a problem. I told Max, and said, "No, look. Four rows behind her." Then Angel saw an Angel II, which meant we were in trouble now. Angel almost came with a code word, but then I said, "I got a really good one." Angel, Max, Total, and Ari all leaned in, and I whispered it, but I'm not gonna tell you.

We were captured and learned that the Director, the crazy person behind the whole scheme was a woman and Max's mother, after hacking into a computer and sending Fang an e-mail saying that we needed him back. This was definitely the weirdest and worst thing that could happen to us. We were thrown in jail, in an underground, stinky, dirty, who-knows-when-the-last-time-it-was-used-and-I-probably-don't-want-to-know-what-happened-to-the-last-occupants, dungeon.

We were taken out of the dungeon, a few days later, and taken to a yard. Max looked around and said, "Let's see. High stone walls, lifeless span of grit, mutants marching around...I don't know—I'm thinking it says 'Prison yard.' What about you guys?" Total and Angel both agreed with Max and then I said, "Prison yard is too good for this place. Like cheerless, joy-sucking plain of despair would more like it." Then as we were walking around, Angel asked, "So is this what prisons will be like after the Re-Evolution? With the collars and everything?" Max said that Angel was probably right, but then I tried to figure what the point of still having prisons would be. "I guess so. I guess they have these things rigged up to shock us if we try to escape. They probably have tracers in them too." "Why would they still have prisons after half of everyone is dead? I thought the future people would be perfect. I thought they would quit fighting for stuff. If people are perfect, they won't go around committing crime, would they?" Max grinned at me with pleasure and, smirking, said, "There. Decades of psycho logic picked apart in three seconds by an eleven-year-old. Take that, modern science!"

Max got a note that said the rest of the flock, including my Iggy, were coming. Then we had to talk to some of ter Borcht's friends. When he first greeted us, Ari muttered to Max, "I hate this guy." Max said, "There's a club, the Haters of ter Borcht Club. Have you gotten your badge yet?" When we reached a lab room full of scientific stuff that I wanted that I wished I could destroy, Max muttered to us, "The meeting of the Haters of ter Borcht Club will now come to order." Ari and Total smirked, Ari hid his behind his hand, I struggled to hide a snort, and Angel sent a grin into everyone's mind.

We talked to some Chinese scientists, but since we weren't cooperating, the Director/Max's crazy mom, yelled at her for letting us be such smart alecks. I didn't care what the Director thought.

We were thrown back in jail and Jeb visited us again and started talking to Max, about the Director and all of the advantages Max would have if the Director was her mother. "Please tell me that icebox was kidding about being my mother." "The Director's a brilliant woman with a global vision." "Yeah, a _deranged_ global vision." "She's a remarkable, gifted scientist." "Why can't she use her powers for good instead of evil? Like, cure cancer or something. And no, killing everyone who _has_ cancer does not count as a cure." "Dr. Janssen is an ambitious, talented political strategist. She could very well end up running the world. One day, she might be the mist powerful person on Earth. As her daughter, you would be in a position of unimaginable advantage." "Except that I would have changed my name and dyed my hair and would be living incognito somewhere to avoid the embarrassment of having a ruthless, power-crazy Dr. Frankenstein for a mother." "Even if she were the most powerful person in the world and being her daughter would give you almost unlimited power too?" "If I had that much power, the first thing I would do is slam her into jail." "What else would you do?" "Put her in jail. Plus all of the others who lent a finger to this hateful Goldfinger plan of world domination. Plus, I would say that all wars would be fought on foot with only swords. No guns, no bombs, no missiles. Only swords. And I would seize all the offshore hidden bank accounts of companies and people who had contributed to ruining the environment. With that money, I would make sure that healthcare and education were available to everyone for free. Plus, housing and food for everyone. Companies that polluted would be shut down and banished. People in the government that ignored the environment would be booted out of office and made to work in the fields. And—" Jeb interrupted Max and said, "_You just passed another test, Max."_

We were freed and then Max had to face her final test. I asked what we were all thinking. "What's your final test Max?" Max shrugged and then said, "I don't know. Something asinine, probably life threatening, and guaranteed to make me angry every time I remember it for the rest of my life." In the middle of Max's test, right before the fight, all of the mutants rebelled. It was terrifying, but totally awesome, and the best part was that, during the fight, a hallucinatory Iggy, that only I and Nudge II could see, appeared and he helped me fight against the Flyboys and the whitecoats. I even heard his voice, _"Nudge. Focus. Block it. Hard uppercut. Downward diagonal slash. Lure 'em in. Knock them back. Defend. Block. Attack. Back up ten feet. Feet first. Slam into their chests. Knock 'em off-balance. Sneak around behind them and snap the bases of their spines like Jeb said to."_ We all ganged up on the Flyboys, but then Ari died and when Jeb saw Ari dead, I thought to Angel, **"Contact Nudge II, Angel II, and maybe Max II. We have to protect Jeb." **Angel II, Max II, and Nudge II all ran over to join me and Angel and Total and we held off the Flyboys. Then Max yelled to me and Angel and Total to get to the walls and Max II grabbed Angel II's hands and Nudge II's hands and ran to the nearest wall as well.

Then after we saved the Director, after nearly turning her into flock splatter art, we went to France to rest up. Then we talked to the guys and went home. I ran over and hugged Iggy hard and faced Embry, "Did you protect Iggy?" "Yeah, I did." Then I hugged Gazzy and Ed and Fang. Then Gazzy asked Max, "Where do we go next?" I grabbed Iggy's hand and said, "Ed, Iggy, and I have to make a really quick stop in Forks and La Push."


	13. SavingtheworldIggy

_**Nudge the Quileute12**_

_**Saving the World and Reuniting the Flock**_

_**Iggy's POV**_

I was pretty miserable and depressed. Ed knew why. It was Nudge, or rather the Nudgelessness of choosing to go with Fang. I didn't trust Ari and if he hurt or killed Nudge, I'd go crazy. I knew I was hurting the others, with my miserableness and unareeableness, but I couldn't help it. It's not my fault, but Nudge got hurt or, I can't let myself think like that. It's too painful. She's strong; she's a werewolf protector from the Quileute tribe up in La Push, fifteen miles south of Forks, Washington, the rainiest place in the world, my werewolf protector.

We went to L.A., but then we had to hide and stayed with a gang, the Ghosts, for a little while, but then we had to leave. So far, all of Fang's plans had fallen through. I found myself wishing that I had chosen to stay with Max, because it might that I would know if Nudge was okay. I couldn't wait to see her again.

Then Fang got an e-mail from Max. I leaned over and said, "Read it aloud, already, man." Fang motioned to Gazzy and Embry to come closer and began to read, "We're in Germany. Town of Lendeheim. Big castle here, head of Itex. Lost of really bad stuff. Come here as fast as you can. (Hi Fang. From Nudge. I miss you! Embry, you better be protecting Iggy from the cold ones, or else, like I told Edward Cullen, I will hunt you down and kill you.) Do NOT blow this off. Come!!! We have days, maybe hours. I mean it, you better get your butt over here. Max."

Then we flew east and the further east we went, the ache in my chest, eased. It was almost as if my heart knew that soon I would hear Nudge's voice again. Then, while we were waiting to sneak onto our direct flight to Germany, a group of Flyboys attacked us. We dived into the ocean when Fang realized that Gazzy, Ed, and I all were out of our bombs and we couldn't fight our way through either. It hurt a lot when we hit the water, but listening to the Flyboys frying was funny and it totally rocked. Then we contacted Max with a webcam and sat there talking to each other and when Gazzy asked for something from France, I said, "Yeah. Like, a picture of Nudge in front of the Eiffel Tower."

Then we saw Max, Nudge, Angel and Total again, in the U.S. I hugged Nudge, while Max and Fang hugged each other and then I hugged Max, Total, and Angel and Nudge hugged and yelled at Embry, and then hugged Fang and Gazzy. Angel and Total and Max then hugged all of the others and after Gazzy asked, "Where do we go next," I grabbed Nudge's hand and then she smiled at me. I just knew she'd smiled at me. We were going to Arizona, but Nudge said that I was going with her to La Push and Forks to tell her friends something, that obviously had to do with the By-Half Plan.


	14. MeetingMaxsMom,embryimprintingonElla,and

_**Nudge the Quileute13**_

_**Meeting Max's Mom, Embry imprinting on Ella, and telling the Cullens and the Pack not to worry about the whitecoats**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

I took Ed and Iggy to Forks and sent Ed back to La Push and he quickly told Sam, Emily, Claire, Quil, Rebecca, Paul, Kim, Jared, Collin, and Brady that the By-Half Plan was history. I told the Cullens the same thing and I even talked to Alice. She frowned at me and said, "I can't watch for your future since I can't see anything when there are werewolves around." I shrugged and asked, "You couldn't see either half of the flock?" "No." Then I glanced at the clock and said, "We gotta run. I promised my friend, Maximum Ride, that we'd meet her in Arizona."

We all reached Arizona and met Dr. Martinez, Max's mom, and Ella Martinez, Max's half-sister. Then I saw Embry freeze when he saw Ella run outside and I knew what had happened. He had imprinted, on Ella Martinez. He just stood there, but then Ella looked at him and smiled hugely at him. "Hi, I'm Ella Martinez. You would be?" "Embry Call, but your sister just calls me Edwin, or Ed, for short." Then Max realized that Embry had imprinted on Ella and when Max turned to kill him, Embry ran as fast as he could to Emily's house. I phased to wolf, and Iggy scrambled onto my back. Then I looked at Ella. Angel said, "Ask your mom if you can go with Nudge to La Push. She'll protect you. And so will her cousin, the Cullens, and all her cousin's friends." Dr. Martinez said yes, and I raced off toward Emily's house.

Embry reached Emily's house and as soon as Sam let him in, Embry dove under the table. Emily frowned at him and Sam asked, "What did you do?" "Uh, I kind of imprinted on one of my best friend's younger half-sister, now, Max wants to kill me." Paul rolled his eyes at Embry and muttered, "You're an idiot, Embry." "What, Max is scary when she's mad."

I arrived with Ella and Iggy, dropping them off at the front door, and then ran off and phased back to human and rejoined them. We knocked and Emily called to us, "Come in." We all trotted in and then Iggy kicked Embry out from under the table. Emily, Rebecca, and Kim all smiled softly at Iggy and Ella. Emily then said to Iggy, "You must be the wolf boy." He grinned sheepishly and then Ella asked, "Are all of the girls in here wolf girls?" Emily said, "Yeah. Claire is being babysat by her imprinter, Quil; Rebecca's dating Paul. Kim's dating Jared. And I'm an engaged wolf girl." I nudged Embry with my arm and then said, "Sam, Emily, Paul, Rebecca, Claire, Quil, Collin, Brady, Jared, and Kim, this is Ella. Ella, this is Sam, Emily, Paul, Rebecca, Quil, Claire, Collin, Brady, Jared, and Kim." Ella smiled and waved shyly and then tugged on my sleeve. "Can we meet your cousin and uncle and that Cullen family?" "Sure," I said back. Then I leaned over to Embry and asked, "Where does my uncle live?" "Follow me." We said goodbye and then left, going to my uncle's house. Embry knocked and then after I came in, said to the man inside, "Billy, this is your niece, the niece we all thought had died eleven years ago, Monique. Monique, this your Uncle Billy Black." I hugged him and then said, "What happened to my parents, though?" I saw my uncle frown and he looked sad. I even saw the tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Monique. I wish I didn't have to tell you this. Your parents died three days after learning of your 'death.' I'm so, so, so sorry." I nodded weakly, and then said, "At least, I still some family to come home to, someday." Embry introduced Ella to Billy and I introduced Iggy to Billy. Then we went and introduced Ella to Jacob, who was staying with Cullens, along with Seth Clearwater and Leah Clearwater. We even introduced Ella to the Cullens and then Embry and I phased back to wolf. Iggy climbed onto my back and Ella hesitated, unsure, until Edward told her, "Go ahead, climb onto Embry's back. He wants you to." She climbed on, and weaving her fingers into his fur, buried her face into his neck and murmured, "I'm ready." We ran back to Arizona, to discover Max, returning, figuring that Embry was hiding inside, I'm guessing.

When Max saw Embry, after he'd phased back to human, she stepped forward ready to kill him, but Ella stepped in front of Embry and said, "Max, please, I love Embry. Leave him alone." Max nodded and then Embry led Ella into the forest. He phased to wolf, showing her that he was a werewolf. Then he told her about the imprint, that someday, if she wanted to, they would get married. "Ella, I imprinted on you, or found my soulmate. And I can promise you, I will be the best friend you've ever had, the best brother, the best boyfriend, and maybe even someday, if you want, we'll get married." Ella grinned at Embry, hugged him, and then they sat next to each other while we were eating real Mexican food. It was _deliciouso_. I loved it. Then we had to leave and I saw Embry sulking about having to leave Ella.

He said goodbye to Ella, but made her promise that she would be careful, because he knew and I knew and Iggy knew and Angel knew that Ed wouldn't be able to stand it if Ella got hurt.


	15. TheUberDirectorandburyingAri

_**Nudge the Quileute14**_

_**The Uber-Director and burying Ari**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

**Windsor State Forest, Massachusetts**

_Sssssss._

The soldiers' armor made an odd hissing sound. But besides the slight sound of metal plates sliding smoothly, flawlessly over one another, the troop was unnaturally quiet as it moved through the woods, getting closer to its prey.

The faintest of beeps caused the team leader to glance down at his wrist screen. Large red letters scrolled across it: ATTACK IN 12 SECONDS...11...10...

The team leader tapped a button, and the screen's image changed: a tall, thin girl, with dirt smears on her face and a tangle of brown hair was glaring out at him. TARGET 1 was superimposed on her face.

...9...8...

His wrist screen beeped again, and the image changed to that of a dark-haired, dark-eyed, scowling boy. TARGET 2.

And so on, the image changing every half second, ending finally with a portrait of a small, scruffy black dog looking at the camera in surprise.

The team leader didn't understand why Target 8 was an animal. He didn't need to understand. All he needed to know was that these targets were slated for capture.

...3...2...1...

The team leader emitted a whistle pitched so high that only his team members could hear it. He motioned toward the small run-down cabin they had surrounded in the woods.

Synchronized perfectly, as only machines can be, the eight team members shouldered eight portable rocket launchers and aimed them straight at the cabin. With a _whoosh_, eight large nets made of woven Kevlar strands shot out from the cannons and unfolded with geometric precision in midair, encasing the cabin almost entirely.

The team leader smiled in triumph.

"THE PREY HAVE BEEN captured, sir," the team leader said in a monotone. Pride was not tolerated in this organization.

"Why do you say that?" the Uber-Director asked in a silky tone.

"The cabin has been secured."

"No. Not quite," said the Uber-Director, who was little more than a human head attached by means of an artificial spinal column to a series of Plexiglas boxes. The bioengine that controlled the airflow over his vocal cords allowed him to sigh, and he did. "The chimney. The skylight."

The team leader frowned. "The chimney would be impossible to climb," he said, accessing his internal encyclopedia. Photographs of the prey scrolled quickly across the team leader's screen. Suddenly an important detail caught his attention, and he froze.

In the corner of one of the photographs, a large feathered wing was visible. The team leader tracked it, zooming in on just that section of the image. The wing appeared to be attached to the prey.

The prey could fly.

He had left routes of escape open.

He had failed!

The Uber-Director closed eyes, sending a thought signal to the nanoprocessors implanted in his brain. He opened his eyes in time to see the team leader and his troop vaporize with a crackling, sparking fizzle. All that was left of them was a nose-wrinkling order of flesh and machine oil.

MY FAMILY AND I were in a forest to bury Ari, the poor little kid. I tried really hard not to cry, but after hearing what Angel and Gazzy had to say, nearly set me off. I stepped forward, but just couldn't talk. Angel heard every word that I wanted so desperately to say, but I just couldn't get out. Ed said some nice things about Ari, vowing that if he had a son that he would name him Ari, after the original Ari and when he was seven, tell him of the hero he was named after. Iggy said he had nothing to say and Fang said something really nice, because Max couldn't come up with a speech for her half-brother, for Ari.

Then we had to leave for Washington D.C for some stupid, but still important, meeting. That was going to be interesting.


	16. themeetingsinwashingtondc,seeingthepen

_**Nudge the Quileute15**_

_**The Meetings in Washington D.C. with the government, seeing the Pentagon, and me, Iggy, Fang, and Angel getting some new skills **_

_**Nudge's POV**_

I really didn't want to go to Washington D.C. It didn't sound like a lotta fun. Mostly it sounded like we would be in small contained areas and have to listen to grown-ups discuss our futures. That wasn't going to be fun, but with Iggy, Gazzy, and Ed around, something exciting will happen, like always. Of course, we never know what to expect with those two. I definitely did not want to go to these meetings and I'm sure Max would agree with me, but I didn't ask her, though, now I wish I did.

On the way to Washington D.C., I asked for a Jolt and when I reached for it, it flew into my hand and when Max reached for it, it stayed put. Then Jeb came in and told us that we were all starting to mutate on our own, which sounded kind of exciting, but also really scary too.

We all watched a video on the past six months or so, of our lives, and then the government people said that they could offer us some protection and a school where we could be studied, and we could still learn. Of course we turned them down and then we ordered some pizzas. Then Gazzy pushed a cup toward Jeb for a refill on lemonade and Iggy said, "No, the blue cup's mine." Gazzy gave it back to him and then we all froze, because no one had thought to mention cup colors. Then Max asked Iggy which blue cup and Iggy found that he could feel colors. I asked him, "What color am I?" "You're sort of a chocolate-milk-slash-coffee-slash-russet-color—a very beautiful color." Now, Iggy could feel colors and I could attract metal. Then Max's pizza was actually a bomb and I dove into the hallway, screaming, "Iggy, hide!" Then I said, "I'm okay if Ig's okay." Iggy emerged from under a pile of dust and said that he was okay. We left and then met up at motel not too far away.

We all went to the other meeting, even though most of us, including Max, didn't want to go. I was so tired of listening to the grown-ups try to decide our future with asking us, but then Max pointed out that the seven of us had more life experience than anyone else in the room. I was really glad when Max pointed that out and then stood up and left the room. We jumped out a window at the end of the hallway that was open in another conference room that wasn't being used and flew away.

Then Gazzy and Iggy flew toward the Pentagon and Gazzy dive-bombed toward it, but then rejoined us. We were chased by some jets, but by flying fast, weaving in and out of the trees, spinning really fast, and leading them away from our actual destination.

Then we camped out in a state park, again. When we were there, Fang developed the ability to blend into any dark background, which was kinda freaky and then, the very next day, Angel could change her appearance. She almost looked like me, when she first changed her appearance. She had smooth, tan, skin, dark brown eyes, and much straighter brown hair. I looked at her and said, "You almost look like me." Angel frowned and said, "I do?" I nodded and asked, "Can you do another one?" Angel nodded and then turned into a bird of paradise. Then Iggy started grumbling that we were all going to turn into tadpoles by the end of the week, but then Max pointed out that just like everyone else, we were changing in ways that the whitecoats didn't expect and we didn't know what would happen next, just like everyone else in the world, except for the Cullens, who would never change.


	17. GoingtoAntarticatosavetheworld,gettingki

_**Nudge the Quileute16**_

_**Going to Antarctica to save the world, getting kidnapped, birdseed, almost being sold in an auction, flying in a hurricane, Max talking to Congress, and then leaving a special mutant school to save the world**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

I was tired from all of the running away and I had asked Max earlier, if we could return to France. I liked France. France was fun. Now, I wanna learn how to speak French so I can move to France, someday. Then Max's Voice said that we had to go somewhere, meet up with her mom there.

I was really glad that we got to see Dr. Martinez again and then we had to go on a really, really, tiny, plane to Argentina. Then we got on a boat and went to the South Pole—Antarctica.

Then, Angel went for a walk with Akila and Total, and Total had a crush on Akila. Max and Fang went and rescued Angel, Total, and Akila, and meanwhile, back at the station, Ed, Gazzy, Iggy, and I all got captured by some Go-Bots. Max, Fang, Angel, Total, and Akila were kidnapped by a big thug and more Go-Bots.

Then the big thug said his name was Gozen and then after I asked like Japanese dumplings, Fang said, "That would be Gyoza." I shrugged and then we were taken into a giant, really tall building and learned that we couldn't just jump out the window. Then we were fed by some more Go-Bots and we got birdseed. We all ended up laughing and when Gozen came to lead us to a office room, I told Max I needed to grab something. I put the lid back on the container of birdseed and stuffed it into my coat. I was going to hang on it.

We met this gross, made-entire-out-of-boxes, guy, and the way Max would describe him is as gross as it sounds. It was like his guts and stuff were surrounded by and connected to machine parts—hoses, pumps, electronic things. And yes, it was as _totally_ gross as it sounded. Once again, well actually, for the first time ever, I was grateful for all of the sick things I had seen throughout my childhood, because otherwise I would have been puking my guts up.

He tried to sell us in an auction, but then Gazzy unleashed his new "ability" and then we all stopped paying attention. I stood there, chatting a mile a minute and talking about random, unnecessary stuff that I think people should know. Then the hurricane hit the building and we all launched ourselves into the hallway and we escaped and nearly died, until we reached the eye of the storm. We followed the storm to remain in the eye and then we all agreed that global-warming was bad. We went back to Arizona to talk to Dr. Martinez—I left the birdseed with her—and we all went to Washington D.C. and Max gave a really interesting speech about global warming and what the United States could do as a nation to save the world.

"Thank you for inviting me here today. I'm here to testify about things I've seen and experienced myself. I'm here because the human race has become more powerful than ever. We've gone to the moon. Our crops resist diseases and pests. We can stop and restart a human heart. And we've harvested vast amounts of energy for everything from night-lights to enormous superjets. We've even created new kinds of people, like me. But everything mankind—personkind has accomplished has had a price. One that we're all going to have to pay. Look. There's a lot of official stuff I could quote and put up on the screen with PowerPoint. But what you need to know, what the world needs to know, is that we're really destroying the earth in a bigger and more catastrophic way than anyone has ever imagined. I mean, I've seen a lot of the world, the only world we have. There are so many, awesome, beautiful things in it. Waterfalls and mountains, thermal pools surrounded by ice and snow as far as you can see. Beautiful beaches with sand like white sugar. Fields and fields of wildflowers. Places where the ocean crashes up against a mountainside, like it's done for thousands of years. I've also seen concrete cities with hardly any green. And rivers whose pretty rainbow surfaces come from an oil leak upstream. Animals are becoming extinct in my lifetime. Just recently, I went through one of the worst hurricanes ever recorded. It was a whole lot worse because of huge, worldwide climatic changes caused by...us. We, the people. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. A more perfect union? While huge corporations do whatever they want to whoever they want, and other people live in subway tunnels. Where's the justice of that? Kids right here in America go to bed hungry every night, while other people get four-hundred-dollar haircuts. Promote the general welfare? Where's the general welfare of strip-mining, toxic pesticides, industrial solvents being dumped into rivers, killing everything? Domestic tranquility? Ever sleep in a forest that's being clear-cut? You'd be hearing chainsaws in your head for weeks. The blessings of liberty? Yes, I'm using one of the blessings of liberty right now, my freedom of speech, to tell you guys, who make the laws, that the very ground you stand on, the houses you live in, the children you tuck in at night, are all in immediate, catastrophic danger. Every minute of every day, cars belch exhaust. Factories spew toxins into the air, land, and water. We've cleared millions of square miles of forests, rain forests, and plains, which means tons of topsoil are just washing away. Which means loss of animals and plants, and increased fires, floods, and coastal disintegration. Just by stuff people have made, created, we're raising the over-all temperature of the entire atmosphere. Well, we only have the one atmosphere! What do you plan to do when it's destroyed? Can we all hold our breaths until we get a new one? The problem is here, _now_. Nine of the ten hottest years ever recorded have happened in my lifetime. I'm fourteen. More or less. There have been record-setting extremes across the globe—tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, droughts, wildfires, tsunamis. We're warming up the planet, and the planet's ice is melting. If only _fifty percent_ of the world's ice melts, countless rivers and streams will overflow and then dry up, killing hundreds of thousands of people from disease and starvation. The ocean water level will rise anywhere from four feet to maybe twenty feet. How many of your favorite vacation spots would be under water? Want to see the Eiffel Tower by canoe? Do any of you own beach houses? Kiss 'em good-bye. And not two hundred years from now. Soon. Maybe within this lifetime. We can't reverse this disaster, even if we all pitched in now and did everything we could, which face it, we're not going to do. A small percentage of us will do stuff, and other people will ignore the problem and hope they'll be dead before it gets really bad. But there are things we can do that would at least help. It would make a difference. The US could ratify the Kyoto treaty. Pretty much every country in the world, except us and Australia, has ratified it. How can we be so pigheaded? Wait—don't answer that. I know our time here is limited. In general, we need to pay more attention to what we do, what we buy, who we buy it from. Use compact fluorescent bulbs. If every house in America replaced _one_ of its regular lightbulbs with a compact fluorescent, it would be like taking a million cars off the road. I mean, how hard is that? I can do the math, and I've never even gone to school! Look into other kinds of power. Windmills, watermills, solar power—every year corporations pay a jillion dollars in legal fees to avoid getting fined for pollution violations. What if they took a small percentage of that money and put it toward coming up with better energy source? Right now America looks like a fatheaded, short-sighted, gas-guzzling, arrogant, blowhard to the rest of the world. And Sweden looks all clean and tidy and progressive. I mean, where's our sense of pride? Why can't _we_ be the progressive leaders, showing the rest of the world how to clean up its act? Why can't we _the people_, get more involved and push through legislation that will help clean up our air, land, and water? Why can't we take government funds from stupid things like war and use them for programs that will develop better fuel sources? I'm just one kid, and not even a regular kid. But if I can come up with all this, why can't you? Will you wait until the water is lapping at your feet?"

Then Max fell silent and everyone sat there, stiffly. We left and then had to go to a special school for mutants only. Then Max's Voice said we had to save the world, again. And so we left, once more, to save the world.


	18. The Air Shows

_**Nudge the Quileute17**_

_**The Air Shows**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

The flock and I now are working with this anti-pollution group, the Coalition to Stop the Madness, or the CSM, as spokes-mutants. We do air shows, because everyone's seen the Blue Angels before, but it's not like you can get the flying kids anytime you want.

We get to travel around the world, going to the most polluted cities and do air shows and then the people in charge hand out flyers and talk about the dangers of pollution. Of course, there are some risks. Max was nearly killed by a crazy sniper guy. He blew himself up so that we couldn't catch him and we ended up with scratches and cuts—the usual you'd get when a building explodes outwards at you.

Fang agreed to let us do one more air show, but I really liked them, even though it put us in danger. We changed our choreography to protect ourselves. We had just landed when we were attacked by a new group of enemies. That meant trouble. We fought our way through and then, after we finished fighting the enemy with some help from the new security hired by the CSM to protect us, Fang and Max agreed that there would be no more air shows. We went to a safe house, a fifth one, actually, and saw Dr. Martinez and Ella. Ed was completely out of it when he saw Ella and he ran over to her to make sure she was happy. The whole imprinter/imprintee relationship can get kinda annoying, but he has to deal with me and Iggy, so it's only fair that I have to deal with him and Ella.

Then Max went for a late night flight and got hurt. She asked Jeb about some Mr. Chu guy and then decided she would find information. She unnecessarily reminded us to be careful and we always returned in one piece.

We left Mexico and moved to Washington and started going to the Day and Night School, but after we had been there for a few days or so, Dr. Martinez was kidnapped. We had to rescue her and fast. Then we were surrounded by more of the robots from the attack at Mexico City and Gazzy, Iggy, and Ed all blew them up, shooting the electrical power in our house.

An armored car came to get us and, at first, Max told me to get into the car, until I told her that I just didn't have it in me anymore. I no longer had the fight instinct in me. She let me stay, but told I couldn't get my wings cut off, not matter how badly I wanted to. I was really glad that Max understood what I wanted and I was all set to stay at the school. Right after the flock left, though, the phone rang, again.


	19. StayingattheDayandNightSchoolandsavingRe

_**Nudge the Quileute18**_

_**Staying at the Day and Night School and Saving Renesmee**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

I was going to stay at the Day and Night School, or that had been the plan, until I learned that my cousin's imprint, Renesmee was in danger and when I learned that the Denalis had to pass the Day and Night School to reach the Cullens, I suggested that the Denalis pick me, when they asked for someone named Nudge.

That was who had called. Edward had called one of the Denalis' cell phone, Kate, who was the sister of the leader and asked her to pick me up from the Day and Night School. I was leaving early to save a part of my family. I quickly e-mailed Fang and said, "Get to Forks. Ed knows where to go. Follow him. I'll meet you there. Bring everyone. Nudge."

I had a lot of schoolwork to do, though, but since I was trying to save the world, I usually got out of trouble. Then the Denalis pulled into the parking lot and Kate came into the main office and said, "My name is Kate. I'm here to pick up Nudge." Then I got called to the office, and I'd already packed all of my stuff into a bag and I was just waiting for that call. I jogged to the office and joined Kate, who quickly signed me out and steered to the car we'd be taking. I was a little shocked by how nice the car was; it was the nicest car I'd ever ridden in before in my entire life.

Five minutes after I'd been introduced to the Denalis, I started rambling. "Don't worry. I told some of my friends that we needed their help and hopefully, they'll all be there by the time we arrive. If not, I'll tell them again and then we can save Renesmee and then those mean Volturi people won't have any reason to bug us again and we'll be able to save Renesmee and Dr. Martinez and the world, in only a matter of minutes and this car is so nice. It's the nicest car I've ever ridden in, in my entire. And is it bulletproof or armored? Because if it's not, which I'm guessing it's not, because normally you just have you vampires in it and you're not on the run from very evil companies who are out to destroy you and the planet and you have to save the world, without getting killed." and I kept waiting for someone to tell me to shut up, when abruptly, as soon as I realized no one was going to, I clamped up. Kate stared at me and said, "Do you ever shut up?" "Nope." Then Tanya, stared at me and groaned. "Great, so now we get stuck listening to you for the entire ride." "Maybe not. You just have to tell me to shut up or my ears are bleeding or something like that and I, I guarantee it, will shut up."

When we reached the Cullens, I held up my hand and said, "Wait. I want to try something." I pressed my hand against the door and murmured, "Edward, Bella, their child, Renesmee, and, my cousin, Jacob are inside. They're absolutely terrified. They think that the Volturi are going to come to kill them. Someone told the Volturi that Renesmee was an immortal child, when she is. She is something different than the Volturi have ever known.." I turned and faced the Denalis and Eleazar said, "You found all that out, just by touching the door?" I nodded and said, "Yeah, it's a gift, a skill of mine. I can touch something and feel the emotions of the last person who touched and it and some of the history behind it." Then Tanya, Kate, Carmen, Eleazar, and I quickly greeted Edward. He noticed that I was already pretty upset and said, "We'll help you after we're done dealing with the Volturi." I nodded my head slowly and then after I learned about Renesmee, I was ready to help. Then I learned that the Volturi wanted to destroy her. I ran off, to think and clear my head, but then returned, much calmer. I stood next to them and tapped Edward on the shoulder.

"I have something to say. At first, before I met Renesmee and learned the danger that she was in, I thought I was more human or more werewolf than bird, but learning what the Volturi wants to do to this little girl, makes me wonder. Am I human or am I bird or am I werewolf? Lately, now to be exact, I don't feel very human anymore. I'm not sure what I see when I look in the mirror anymore. I see a girl, a werewolf, and a bird, but which of those three am I? When I think of me, I picture someone with wings. I know I'm not normal. There aren't any kids to hang out with who are like me. Besides the flock. I know I don't fit in anywhere. I don't even fit in with the flock. I don't fit in with either of the two Packs. I just don't. Neither does Embry. We're both different. We're both mutants. We're both freaks. This world isn't set up for people like me, like us. Nothing in this world is designed for us, designed to make us comfortable. We always stick out, we always make do. People want us, or want us dead, because of _what_ we are, not _who_ we are. It's hard. And it's no different from what the Volturi want to do to Renesmee. They want to kill her, not because of _what_ or _who_ she is, but _what_ they _think_ she is. It's not fair. She shouldn't have to be scared, to suffer, because of them. Why would she hurt anyone? Why would she want to? What if she wanted to fit in, to be normal, to be a part of the real, the human, world, especially if she could? What if she could fit in with normal people and not stick out, not hurt anyone, to be normal? If we can get the Volturi to listen, we should be good to go. If not, I will fight to the death, to save Renesmee." Abruptly, I clamped up and everyone just stared at me. I looked down at the ground and Bella said, "You really have a great deal of insight into situations, or you're just really good at coming up with ways to compare events in your past to what's happening now." I merely nodded and remained silent. Jacob said, "Wow. How old are you, Monique?" I paused and said, "Eleven. Why?" "It's just that you seem really mature for an eleven-year-old, physically, mentally, and emotionally." I shrugged and then said, "A little heartbreak, a little fighting to the death, a little meeting Max's parents, a few air shows, a few near-death experiences, a little of one of my friend's and her half-sister's and Embry's imprint's mother being kidnapped by our latest enemy/enemies—Mr. Chu and Chu Corporation—it all ages a girl." Edward said, "I guess we can assume you're in, right Monique?" "Right," I said. "And if necessary, I will fight. It's time I got back into the battle. And, after all, this all is a test. Everything that's ever happened has been a test or a game. We can win, but we can't play fair. We gotta play hard and dirty." Edward, Tanya, Kate, Carmen, Eleazar, Bella, Jacob, and Renesmee all nodded in agreement to let me and my friends help, but then Fang e-mailed me back, saying that they couldn't come. They had to go through some training in the military, which meant it would be up to me to find a way to stop the Volturi from getting what they wanted—to destroy the Cullens and sweet, little, Renesmee.

I was going to save Renesmee, Dr. Martinez, the world, stop the Volturi, and Chu Corporation if it was the last thing I ever did. Edward looked at me and said, "Thank you, Monique, for your courage, your determination, to stand with us, no matter how badly we're outnumbered." I shrugged and said, "Jake's my cousin. After all, I've worked way too hard to keep Bella alive back when she was still pregnant with Renesmee and I'm not gonna let the Volturi destroy what I tried so hard to protect from the whitecoats, evil scientists who were plotting to eliminate half of the world's human population—three billion people."

Then a bunch of other vampires joined us, some were willing to fight if necessary and others were just there to witness. Of course, one of the witnesses, Alistair didn't help when it came to being hopeful that we would win. He hid in the attic and sulked. "Of course, now they'll know I was here. No way to hide it from Aro at this point. Centuries on the run, that's what this will mean. Everyone Carlisle's talked to in the last decade will be on their list. I can't believe I got myself sucked into this mess. What a fine way to treat your friends." But he left earlier, because he thought it would be too dangerous to face the Volturi, and apparently he had the best chance of escaping the Volturi, because he was a tracker who just felt a tug toward whatever he was tracking. A couple of people, Amun and his mate, Kebi, threatened to join the Volturi against us, but Benjamin, a really cool vampire, managed to get all of the other vampires to stick together. I didn't like the two Romanian vampires, Stefan and Vladimir, and Jacob and I called them "Dracula 1" and "Dracula 2" because, after all, Dracula was from Romania and Bella and Nessie agreed with us, that the Romanians were our least favorite visitors. Personally, I'd rather fly through a hundred hurricanes than have to deal with the Romanians. They were just plain creepy, but according to Bella, Caius, the snowy white-haired member of the Volturi was creepier than both of the Romanians put together, but I found that very hard to imagine.

Later we all had to declare ourselves and Embry arrived just then and walked over to me and said, "Ella's fine, just really freaked about her mom. Her aunt and uncle agreed to let her provide their house as a safe house for Renesmee and Jacob, should they have to run away, so it'd be easier for me to help you help the Cullens and Renesmee." I nodded and said, "I'd expected that. Now are we going to stand with the Cullens during this fight, to protect Renesmee, or not?" Embry looked at me and, holding out left fist the way we always did right before bed, said, "Of course we're standing by the Cullens." I stacked my fist on top of his and tapped his fist with my right hand and he tapped mine. I then faced Carlisle and said, "Embry and I will fight." Jacob nodded and then said, "The packs will fight alongside the Cullens as well. We're not scared of a few vampires." Of course, most of the other vampires, including the Denalis, who had arrived first, along with me, were willing to fight alongside the Cullens.

All of the vampires and Jake gathered in the baseball clearing, the day of the Volturi's arrival. We knew that if we had to fight, some of us would not be returning. We just didn't know who would die and who would survive. Earlier, Embry had given Bella Ella's aunt and uncle's address, because he said that Ella would be willing to help Embry in anyway she could, including helping Nessie and Jake escape, because Jake and Nessie were pretty much a part of her family as well as the Cullens and Denalis, and me and Embry's. Then the Volturi entered the clearing like an army. It did not look good. Just then, Sam gave the signal, and the seventeen wolves who were hiding in the forest, including me, burst out of the trees and joined the vampires.

Aro read Edward's mind, and then read Nessie's mind, but then he lied to her about hurting her friends and family. Then I noticed Embry tense and stare at Demetri. I wondered what in the world could possibly be wrong with Embry and asked, **"Embry, what's wrong?" **_"That guy there, the one called Demetri, is destined for Angel. He's her soulmate and he wants to kill us."_ **"Yeah, that could be a problem. Ideas?" **_"I think I have an idea. We'll blackmail them. Use Angel as leverage." _**"Absolutely not, Embry." **_"Leah is gonna imprint. On Ari. I really hope Max doesn't kill her." _**"That's impossible. Ari died." **_"Maybe that was a fake Ari and the real Ari's still human." _**"Maybe." **_"It would so cool to see Max's face when she sees her brother is still alive." _**"Yeah, it would be." **_"Want to know anything else?"_** "Anyone else?"**_ "I feel a little bad for Tanya, though"_** "Why?"**_ "Her soulmate is the Gasman." _**"Vampire venom heals most things in normal people, right?" **_"Yeah, why?"_** "I was thinking maybe if Gazzy became a vampire it might solve his enzyme-balance problem." **_"Or it might make it worse." _**"Who knows." **_"We'll find out soon enough anyway, but I really hope we were not still around when that happens." _I froze and stared at Embry and then thought, **"Oh, man, Embry. You just got a new skill. Can I tell them about me?" **_"Sure, Monique."_ He grinned happily, but I didn't tell Sam or Jacob a word of the conversation that Embry and I had just had.

Then Caius motioned to Irina and when he pulled out a metal thing that he was obviously going to use to kill her with, I concentrated and yanked it away from him and Tanya caught it before it could clobber me in the head. I sent a smirk into Jake's and Sam's heads and they grinned back at him, as did both of their packs. He glared at Irina and then said, "Say your goodbyes." Then someone in a little girl voice said, "Goodbye." And then a metal pole sliced through the air and walloped Caius in the head. He staggered and collapsed to the ground. Then I saw Angel. She glanced at Irina and screamed, "Run, you idiot! Get out of here! Fang, unleash the secret weapon!" I stared as Total started running throughout the Volturi and all of the guard tried to grab him or Angel. Then Max swooped downward and grabbed Caius, but then dropped him and ignored him and flew throughout the Volturi, along with Gazzy and Iggy. Fang was somewhere in the Volturi crowd and slipping silently and using his new skill managed to get right behind Caius. Caius finally managed to get up and muttering to himself angrily, rejoined Aro and Marcus. Fang tapped Caius's shoulder and then said, "Boo!" Caius didn't even flinch, until Fang shook his head and appeared. Fang turned, grabbed Total, threw Total upward, Angel ditched her pole and the two rocketed away. Then the guard captured Irina and Caius killed her.

I didn't think that it was fair for Irina to die and when Tanya and Kate leaped forward to avenge their sister, I grabbed Tanya's pant leg and tugged, trying to pull her back. I wasn't going to let anyone else get killed. I thought over and over, **"I'll make Max go to Denali. She'll help you. I know she will." **Edward told Tanya and Kate this and they both nodded weakly.

Then Aro said, "let us hear all sides of the problem." Of course, several people from our sides witnessed that Nessie was not an immortal child and some of them left to survive. Right before Garrett spoke, I ran off and phased back to human and rejoined the others and I muttered, "I wanted to speak for myself." Then Garrett asked, "May I offer a side to be considered?" Aro nodded and said, "Nomad." "I came here at Carlisle's request, as the others, to witness. That is certainly no longer necessary, with regard to the child. We all see what she is. I stayed to witness something else. You. Two of you I know—Makenna, Charles—and I can that many of you others are also wanderers, roamers like myself. Answering to none. Think carefully on what I tell you now. These ancient ones did _not_ come here for just as they told you. We suspected as much, and now it has been proved. They came, misled, but with a valid excuse for their action. Witness now as they seek flimsy excuses to continue their mission. Witness them struggle to find a justification for their true purpose—to destroy this family here. The Volturi come to erase what they perceive as the competition. Perhaps, like me, you look at this clan's golden eyes and marvel. They are difficult to understand, its true. But the ancient ones look and see something besides their strange choice. They see _power_. I have witnessed the bonds within this family—I say _family_ and not _coven_. These strange golden-eyed ones deny their very nature. But in return have they found something worth even more, perhaps, than mere gratification of desire? I've made a little study of them in my time here, and it seems to me that intrinsic to this intense family binding—that which makes them possible at all—it the peaceful character of this life of sacrifice. There is no aggression here like we all saw in the large southern clans that grew and diminished so quickly in their wild feuds. There is no thought for domination. And Aro knows this better than I do. Carlisle assured us all, when he told us what was coming, that he did not call us here to fight. These witnesses agreed to show evidence, to slow the Volturi advance with their presence so that Carlisle would get the chance to present his case. But some of us wondered if Carlisle having truth on his side would be enough to stop the so-called justice. Are the Volturi here to protect the safety of our secrecy, or to protect their own power? Did they come to destroy an illegal creation, or a way of life? Could they be satisfied when the danger turned out to be no more than a misunderstanding? Or would they push the issue with the excuse of justice? We have the answer to all these question. We heard it Aro's lying words—we have one with a gift of knowing such things for certain—and it we see it now in Caius's eager smile. Their guard is just a mindless weapon, a tool in their masters' quest for domination. So now there are more questions, questions that _you_ must answer. Who rules you, nomads? Do you answer to someone's will besides your own? Are you free to choose your own path, or will the Volturi decide how you will live? I cam to witness. I stay to fight. The Volturi care nothing for the death of the child. They seek the death of our free will. So come, I say. Let's hear no more lying rationalizations. Be honest in your intents as well be honest in ours. We will defend our freedom. You will or will not attack it. Choose now, and let these witnesses see the true issue debated here. You might considering joining us. If you think the Volturi will let you live tell _this_ tale, you are mistaken. We may all be destroyed, but then again, maybe not. Perhaps we are on more equal footing than they know. Perhaps the Volturi have finally met their match. I promise you this, though—if we fall, so do you." I then stepped forward toward Aro and said, "I have something for everyone present here to consider." Aro nodded at me and said, "Dog." " I have something to say. At first, before I met Renesmee and learned the danger that she was in, I thought I was more human or more werewolf than bird, but learning what the Volturi wants to do this little girl and her family, makes me wonder. Am I human or am I bird or am I werewolf? Lately, now to be exact, I don't feel very human anymore. I'm not sure what I see when I look in the mirror. I see Nessie, she looks perfectly normal, like she's human, Jacob, also seems normal, as do the Cullens, the Denalis, and all of the other vampires gathered here today, either to fight, or to witness. When I see myself in the mirror, I see a girl, a werewolf, and a bird, but which of those three am I? When I think of me, I picture someone with wings. I know I'm not normal. There aren't any kids to hang out with who are like me. Besides Embry. I don't fit in anywhere. I don't even fit in with the flock. I don't fit with either of the two Packs. I just don't. Neither does Embry. We're both different. We're both mutants. We're both freaks. And I'm sure Nessie feels the same way when she looks at her family—she's half-human and half-vampire. Her parents are vampires and her best friend is a werewolf, a shape-shifter but where would she fit into the world around her? The world isn't set up for people like me, like us. Nothing in this world is designed for us, designed to make us comfortable. We always stick out, we always make do. People want us, or want us dead, because of _what_ we are, not_ who_ we are. It's hard. And it's no different from the Volturi want to do to Renesmee. They want to kill her, not because of _what_ or _who_ she is, but _what_ they _think_ she is. It's not fair. She shouldn't have to be scared, to suffer, because of them. Why would she hurt anyone? Why would she want to? What if she wanted to fit, to be normal, to be a part of the real, the human, world, especially if she could? What if she could fit in with normal people and not stick out, not hurt anyone, to be normal? If we can get the Volturi to listen, we should be good to go. If not, I will fight to the death. Jake, here, is my cousin. And after all, I've worked way too hard to keep Bella alive back when she was still pregnant with Renesmee and I'm not gonna let the Volturi destroy what I tried so hard to protect from the whitecoats, evil scientists who were plotting to eliminate half of the world's human population—three billion people. People died to protect Bella and Nessie. Children fought to protect their loved ones and others who they knew would be on Itex's hit list of people who must be killed. Some of those who died during the battle at the Itex world headquarters in Lendeheim, Germany, were younger than I. They were kids. For one of them, when they died, watching them die, remembering it, is terrible. His name was Ari Batchelder. He was one of my best friends' younger half-brother. He didn't understand completely what had happened to him, but he was ready to fight, even though he knew that there was a very likely chance he wouldn't return, alive anyway. And, so, like Ari, I stand ready to fight, even though, I too may not rejoin my family."

The Volturi all just stared at me for a few seconds and then Caius scoffed and said, "You're just a kid. You have no life experience. Plus, you're just a kid and should have a guardian." I hissed in my breath and snarled back at him, "You're _kidding_. We've escaped from top-security prisons, lived through mental and physical _torture_, lived on our own for _years_, made tons of smarty-pants grown-up look fools without even trying, eaten _desert rats_ with _no_ A1 steak sauce, and you're telling me we're _minors_ and have to have _guardians_? Listen, pal, I grew up in a freaking _dog crate_. I've seen horrible part-human mutations die gut-wrenching deaths. I've had people, mutants, and robots trying to kill me twenty-four/seven for as long as I can remember, and you think I'm gonna cave to _state law_? Are you _bonkers_? Life experience? Big picture? I've had more life experience in eleven years than you've had in—what are you, like, three thousand?" I noticed Caius shifting his weight uncomfortably and continued "You're the ones who don't have the life experience. Have you ever woken up with your mouth duct-taped shut, not knowing where you are or where your family is? Are you afraid of everything and everyone? Have you foraged for food in Dumpsters? Do you sleep with one eye open, because at any second someone might try to kill you? Have you ever opened a _pizza_ box only to find a _bomb_? You guys don't have any idea." I noticed that everyone was supporting Carlisle freeze and identical looks of horror crossed their faces and I also heard Esme's gasp of horror at what I had to live through on a daily basis. Even among the Volturi, some of them looked horrified. Even Marcus, who had maintained a bored expression throughout the entire event, looked horrified. "Angel's only six. But ten bucks says she's been in more fights to the death than any of you, than anyone here. You!" I snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at Caius. "You are a pointless, pathetic, wastoid of a parasite, leech, bloodsucker, blood drinker, cold one, and vampire, who, when you die, are going to spend the rest of eternity roasting in hell alone." Caius spat back at me, "You can't hurt me." I shook my head and said, "Yes, Caius, I really can." Caius walked over to me and slapped me, but then I glared at him and snarled, "Why don't you go take a flying leap off a cliff. That would solve most of our problems right there." Everyone, including Marcus, and except for Caius, who was still glaring at me, all gawked at me when I said this to Caius. I glared at Caius and he said, "We need everyone here to be somewhat civilized, unless, of course, that's beyond you dog, because fair is fair." I stared at Caius and snarled, "You're kidding, right? _Please_ tell me you have a stronger motive for me than 'fair is fair.' Life isn't _fair_, Caius. Nothing is fair, _ever_. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I need to be civilized because _fair is fair_? Try 'I need you to be civilized so I won't rip out your spine and beat you with it.' I _might_ respond to that. _Maybe_." Of course, Esme was horrified again, but if anything about Caius changed, his eyes only grew colder throughout our entire exchange. Suddenly he looked as if he would be blushing with embarrassment or anger. Then he snarled at the watching vampires and shape-shifters, my family, "You _will_ all forget this ever happened."

I glared at Caius and snarled, "Take it back." He asked, "Take what back?" "What you said about the Cullens breeding mutants here." "NO!" I glanced at Embry and he nodded and disappeared into the forest. I rocketed straight up into the air and said, "I'd so hate to do this, but you forced me to, Caius." He shrugged and then Embry joined me. We swooped down, grabbed Caius and flew steadily upward. "Where are you taking me?" he demanded, furious. "Mostly just up. Now take back what you said or else Embry and I will drop you from way, way up here and watch you go two dimensional—a little something we like to call 'flock splatter art.'" "I'll never take it back." "Okay," I said and I let him go. He yelled in terror and screamed, "I'll take it back." "Say it like you really mean it and be serious." He gulped and said, "I, Caius Volturi, take back what I said about the Cullens breeding mutants here in Forks. They do not breed mutants." "Thank you." We landed and Embry and I let Caius go and Caius quickly ran over and rejoined his two brothers—Aro and Marcus.

Five seconds later, I saw Max II running towards me. "Nudge, it's..." Suddenly a swarm of M-Geeks arrived and snatched Max II before she couldn't finish delivering her message. It couldn't be good. I'd ask Edward first chance I got, after this battle, if we survived, but the chances of that happening weren't so great.

Then Alice returned and after Huilen and Nahuel gave their witness to save Nessie, the Volturi left. After a few minutes, the news sank in and we all celebrated. We weren't going to die, today. I ran forward a few steps, jumped into the air, and did a perfect back flip, wings out and managed to go higher into the air while performing the back flip. Embry grinned and jokingly said, "You should've done at one of the air shows, Nudge." I grinned down at him and said, "Yeah, it would have been cool, if it was part of the choreography." Embry frowned, looked up at me, and I realized right away what he was thinking. "Let's go save Dr. Martinez!" Ed and I both yelled at the same time.


	20. TheBasicSurvivalSkillsTrainingCourseorth

_**Nudge the Quileute19**_

_**The Basic Survival Skills Training Course or the BSSTC and going to Forks to help Nudge, but not telling her so no one expects us**_

_**Iggy's POV**_

We all went to San Diego where we learned where Dr. Martinez might be being held prisoner—somewhere off the coast of Hawaii. We went to Hawaii and we had to go through some training with United States Navy called The Basic Survival Skills Training Course or the BSSTC. We sailed through it, and by the end of the first week in Hawaii, we were free. During the entire training, everyone in the flock was careful not to mention Nudge in front of me, because they knew I hated being away from her for any periods of time.

After we done, we all went to Forks to help Nudge and launch a surprise attack against the Volturi. We found Nudge, because I made Angel look for the cream-colored wolf, in a clearing with the rest of the wolves and a whole bunch of vampires. Angel grabbed a metal pole, and flew towards one with white hair and when he said, "Say your good-byes," to the vampire in front of him, Angel struck. She knocked him out and took down a good number of the guard and Max, Gazzy, and I scattered the witnesses while the vampire who the white-haired one tried to kill escaped. Then Fang released Total and then snuck up behind the white-haired vampire. Fang tapped his shoulder and said, "Boo!" but the vampire didn't even flinch, until Fang shook his head and completely appeared. We quickly left and returned to Hawaii, but agreed that we would see Nudge again.


	21. RescuingDrMartinezandSendingMaxtoDenali

_**Nudge the Quileute20**_

_**Rescuing Dr. Martinez and Sending Max to Denali to help Tanya and Kate deal with the death of their sister, Irina**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

Ed and I flew to Hawaii, almost immediately after the battle, promising the Denalis to send Max to Denali to help them and learning that Chu Corporation had taken over the castle in northern Germany from Edward, who had heard it in Max II's thoughts. Of course, we'd have to fly twice as fast as normal to get to Hawaii and still be able to save Dr. Martinez and spend some time with the flock. We got to Hawaii and then while Gazzy was being treated for a man-of-war jelly fish sting, Max told me about the plan to go to Forks and launch a surprise attack on the Volturi. Angel looked up at me and suddenly said, "I don't like Caius." I grinned at her and said, "I agree, but you guys missed it. Ed will tell you all about it." Iggy looked over at me and said, well actually, it was more like demanded, "What we'd miss?" I shrugged and said, "I told Caius off, kinda like Max does with every authorative figure we've ever met." Angel giggled and said, "Tell me about it." "I'll think about and then you can send it into everyone, except for Ed, else's head." _"The Volturi all just stared at me for a few seconds and then Caius scoffed and said, "You're just a kid. You have no life experience. Plus, you're just a kid and should have a guardian." I hissed in my breath and snarled back at him, "You're kidding. We've escaped from top-security prison, lived through mental and physical torture, lived on our own for years, made tons of smarty-pants grown-ups look like fools with even trying, eaten desert rats with no A1 steak sauce, and you're telling me we're minors and have to have guardians? Listen, pal, I grew up in a freaking dog crate, I've seen horrible part-human mutations die gut-wrenching deaths. I've had people, mutants, and robots trying to kill me twenty-four/seven for as long as I can remember and you I'm gonna cave to state law? Are you bonkers? Life experience? Big picture? I've had more life experience in eleven years than you've had in—what are you, like, three thousand." I noticed Caius shifting his weight uncomfortably and continued. "You're the ones who don't have the life experience. Have you ever woken up with your mouth duct-taped shut, not knowing where you are or where your family is? Are you afraid of everyone__and everything? Have you foraged for food in Dumpsters? Do you sleep with one eye open, because at any second someone might try to kill you? Have you ever opened a pizza box only to find a bomb? You guys don't have any idea." I noticed that everyone who was supporting Carlisle freeze and identical looks of horror crossed their faces and I also heard Esme's gasp of horror at what I had to live through on a daily basis. Even among the Volturi, some of them looked horrified. Even Marcus, who had maintained a bored expression throughout the entire event, looked horrified. "Angel's only six. But ten bucks says she's been in more fights to the death than any of you, than anyone here. You!" I snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at Caius. "You are a pointless, pathetic, wastoid, of a parasite, leech, bloodsucker, blood drinker, cold one, and vampire, who, when you die, are going to spend the rest of eternity roasting in hell alone." Caius spat back at me, "You can't hurt me." I shook my head and said, "Yes, Caius, I really can." Caius walked over to me and slapped me, but then I glared at him and snarled, "Why don't you go take a flying leap off a cliff. That would solve most of our problems right there." Everyone, including Marcus, and except for Caius, who was still glaring at me, all gawked at me when I said this to Caius. I glared at Caius and he said, "We need everyone here to be somewhat civilized, unless, of course, that's beyond you dog, because fair is fair." I stared at Caius and snarled, "You're kidding, right? Please tell me you have a stronger motive for me than 'fair is fair.' Life isn't fair, Caius. Nothing is fair, ever. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I need to be civilized, because far is far. Try 'I need you to be civilized so I won't rip out your spine and beat you with it.' I might respond to that. Maybe." Of course, Esme was horrified again, but if anything about Caius changed, his eyes only grew colder throughout our entire exchange. Suddenly he looked as if he would be blushing with embarrassment or anger. Then he snarled at all of the watching vampires and shape-shifters, my family, "You will all forget this ever happened. I glared at Caius and snarled, "Take it back!" He asked, "Take what back?" "What you said about the Cullens breeding mutants here." "NO!" I glanced at Embry and he nodded and disappeared into the forest. I rocketed straight up into the air and said, "I'd so hate to do this, but you forced me to, Caius." He shrugged and then Embry joined me. We swooped down, grabbed Caius, and flew steadily upward. "Where are you taking me?" he demanded, furious. "Mostly just up. Now take back what you said or else Embry and I will drop you from way, way up here and watch you go two dimensional—a little something we like to call 'flock splatter art.'" "I'll never take it back." "Okay," I said, and I let him go. He yelled in terror and screamed, "I'll take it back." "Say it like you really mean it and be serious." He gulped and said, "I, Caius Volturi, take back what I said about the Cullens breeding mutants here in Forks. They do not breed mutants." "Thank you." We landed and Embry and I let Caius go and Caius quickly ran over and rejoined his two brothers—Aro and Marcus."_Everyone laughed at how I'd completely and utterly embarrassed Caius in front of, not only his two brothers, his wife, his guard, but also just about almost every single vampire in the world and sixteen giant wolves, two of whom would join Max's family as half-siblings-in-law, not that she knows that, yet—she knows Ed will be her half-brother-in-law, but she doesn't know she's going to get a half-sister-in-law, Leah Clearwater.

I motioned to Max and said, "Max, can I talk to you, alone?" "Sure, Nudge." We went over to a bench, not too far from the others and then Max asked, "Nudge, what's wrong?" "While I was at the Cullens, I met this really nice family. They're vegetarians, so they abstain from human blood, like the Cullens. They're called the Denalis. Two of them—Kate and Tanya—saw their sister—by blood and venom—get murdered by Caius. I could see that watching their sister, Irina, die was really hard for them and you're the only person I know who knows what it's like to lose a sibling, no, to see them die in front of you and I kinda told them that I'd send you to Denali to help them. If you're mad at me, I'll understand. Just don't be mad at them. Be mad at me or at Caius." Max nodded at me and said, "Rescue my mom. Go to Denali. I'll go, but Fang will be in charge while I'm with the Denalis, at least until I think that Tanya and Kate will be okay." Then I said, "Oh, yeah. Um, I almost forgot, I saw Max II and Chu Corporation—they've taken over that castle in Germany. Either that or Max II was lying, but she'd looked pretty freaked out when she came to warn me and was, obviously, recaptured. "

Max stared at me, eyes wide with horror, and then we left for our sub and went to rescue Dr. Martinez. I was a little worried that something bad might have happened to her, that maybe we were too late to rescue her. I really, really, hope not. Of course, I hate the uniform I have to wear, though. If only I could wear something that was, I don't know, a little cuter. Then, while we were on the sub, I edited the outfit, so that it seemed cuter to me—not like they care, now that the Navy knows we have wings. Yep, the Navy's helping us rescue Dr. Martinez too. So yeah. No need to worry about learning how to breathe under water for a while, for me, anyway. I was still worried about what would happen if we let the Volturi ever find out that the flock knows about vampires, but not everyone believes that these stories are true.

Then Angel went swimming underwater a couple of times even after Max yelled at her the first time and then Max and Fang got the ability to breathe underwater like Angel. That meant it would be that much easier to find and rescue Dr. Martinez which means it won't take as long to save her, either. So that's really, really good. I couldn't wait to Dr. Martinez again.

Max and Angel went underwater again, this time to find Dr. Martinez and talk to some really, freaky, mutant fish. Then Angel and Max found Dr. Martinez, and with the mutant fish's help were able to rescue her. We got Dr. Martinez back onto the sub and returned to Hawaii.

We all waited in the hospital for Ella and Jeb. When Ella arrived, Ed hugged her and led her, along with Max, to Dr. Martinez's room. Jeb went with them. Max and Ed let Ella and Jeb talk to Dr. Martinez alone, but as they came to rejoin us, they saw Mr. Chu talking to Brigid. If you ask me, that was an obvious sign that she was one of _**THEM**_ now.

We all hung out at the beach and I waved to Max and Fang, where they were finally holding hands and somewhat dating. Max flew down to me and asked, "What?" "When are we leaving for Denali? Tanya and Kate are expecting us, you know." Fang frowned at Max and said, "What's Nudge talking about?" "Um," Max hesitated and I nodded at her to explain to Fang and said, "Angel's told everyone but Fang. We agreed to let you explain." Max nodded and faced Fang. "You see, Fang, there are these two girls—Tanya and Kate. They both saw their sister, Irina, get murdered by Caius Volturi, and since I'm the only one who has had any experience in watching a sibling die in front of me that Nudge could think of, she promised the Denalis I'd come and help them." Fang nodded and a few days later we left for Denali.

On the way to Denali, we stopped at the Cullens to see Nessie, Jake, Quil, Claire, Paul, Rebecca, Jared, Kim, Sam, Emily, Carlisle, Esme, Bella, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice, and to find out where exactly in Denali that Tanya, Kate, Garrett, Carmen, and Eleazar lived because I had no idea where to go. The Cullens agreed to help us, and within five minutes, I had come up with _**SIX**_ different routes to get to the Denalis and I'm only eleven people. So we decided that Max would take the quickest route there, so that way she'd be there first, because the Denalis were only expecting her. We'd all go using the same route/routes, doubling back as necessary, and Max would use her super-speed to get there first. Then I'd arrive, introduce Max to Tanya, Kate, Garrett, Carmen, and Eleazar, and prepare the Denalis for the arrival of the rest of the flock and then they'd arrive.

We reached Denali and Max, the rest of the flock and I landed not too far away from the Denalis' house. I'd warned the flock that they might be away hunting, unless Alice had told Tanya and Kate that we were all on our way. I trotted forward, half-dragging Max with me, because she was reluctant to leave Fang's side, and walked to the front door. I knocked and Tanya opened the door, still looking just as upset as she had the last time I'd seen her. She gave Max one look and called, "Kate, we have company. Come, in Monique, Max." Then she stiffened and caught the scent of the rest of the flock. "Have your friends come in as well." We all hurried inside and Tanya said, "I'm sorry, Carmen, Eleazar, and Garrett are all away hunting. We didn't know when to expect you." I shrugged and said, "Sorry about the lack of communication." Then I motioned to Max and said, "This is Maximum Ride, the girl I'd been talking about. Tanya and Kate, Max. Max, Tanya and Kate." Fang glanced at Max and herded the rest of the flock out the door, allowing Max to talk to Tanya and Kate, alone.

After we left, Max started talking to Tanya and Kate. "I'm sorry about your sister." "It's okay, but it's hard to remember her, to think about her." Tanya muttered. "Especially her last few moments. If I were human, I'd be having nightmares about it," Kate mumbled weakly. Max nodded and said, "Like it is for me to think of," Max gulped in a deep breath and said, "Ari." Tanya and Kate both stared at Max and said, "It looks you had it worse off than we did." Max nodded and asked, "Do you mind if I rant for a little bit, because Ari's death is partly my fault?" "No," Tanya replied and Kate quickly said, "Go right ahead, just don't destroy anything." "You, see, Ari was my half-brother. We shared the same "father"—Jeb Batchelder, and you can believe those quotes around father. He really didn't notice Ari, only saw me. He liked Ari tagging around, following him, but hated having Ari and me and in the same room. As if he were trying to keep from noticing any similarities between the two of us. I'd never really noticed anything that was similar between me and Ari. All I saw was a normal boy, who had a father, Jeb. I'd wanted to be the best to be loved. Then Ari helped me escape from the School and he joined us. We went to Germany. He seemed a little scared, but still determined and ready to fight. I was going to watch him carefully, in case he suddenly turned on me, but he seemed more interested in protecting me. During the trip, I'd wondered if there was something about the two of us that he knew and I didn't. It had troubled me for a little bit, but then we reached Lendeheim and were captured inside a giant castle. We met the Director who claimed to be my mother, but really wasn't, thankfully, and threw us in jail. We saw Jeb a couple times and then the second time, he came and told me and Ari that we were half-siblings. I then felt horrible for all of the awful names I'd called Ari, everything insult I'd thrown at him, and I imagined he'd felt the same way. Then during a riot that Angel had started in the middle of my final test, Ari died. I was there, holding him as he choked, dying. When I realized that he was gone, that he was dead, I felt horrible. He was a little kid, my baby brother, my half-brother. Every time I think of when he died, I felt and still feel horrible. I felt and still feel like a failure, even as a mutant freak. That I wasn't a good sister. That I had failed my baby brother. I should have been there, I should have protected him. I'm practically the world's worst older sister. I should have insisted that we bring him with us. I can't believe I let this happen to him. And now, every time I think about him, it bugs me, and makes work harder to protect my other half-sibling, my little sister, Ella Martinez. And as for the nightmares, it's always the same, Ari and I are racing after the Director, when he suddenly chokes and dies, in my arms." Then Max abruptly clamped up and she realized that she was crying. She looked at Tanya and Kate and Kate said, "It wasn't your fault. Tanya and I were there when Laurent never came back. Irina just about had a fit and ran away. Maybe it meant that she didn't want to be here anymore, but why would she turn on her own cousins?" Max paused and thought hard and then said, "Maybe because she thought that it was because the Cullens could no longer be trusted like Fang reacted to Ari when he first joined us." Kate nodded and Tanya hugged Max and Tanya said, "Thank you." Max nodded and said, "Do you want me to stay longer? I can stay for a while, I think. My family and I will hide far enough away that no one will know we've been here, and I'll come in and go by different routes. My friend, Nudge, I mean, Monique, can find me several routes her." Kate said, "Thank you Max for offering, but thanks to you, I think that Tanya and I will be much better now that we know that sitting around and being mopey won't help us get anything done, now will it?" Max shrugged and then said, "Yeah, but can I borrow a sheet of paper and a pen. I've got a number I want to give you—my cell phone number." Tanya nodded and handed Max the sheet of paper and the pen Max had asked for. Max quickly said thanks and quickly wrote her number down—1—(248)—163—2642 _(a/n—this is a phone number that I made up for this story. Max's cell phone number is never given in the book series. She is said to have one in book four, but the number isn't given.)_ and scrawled under it—Maximum Ride—cell phone, and ripping off the sheet, she tossed it to Tanya and said, "Hopefully we'll all meet again under happier circumstances, and when it comes to the final battle to save the world, you, the Cullens, the packs, and the vampires who'd helped Carlisle will be among the first to know." Tanya and Kate nodded and Kate said, "Thank you for everything. We'll be ready and farewell, for now, Max." Max waved and took off and then called toward us, "Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, Total, time to go." And then, as soon as we were a good distance from the house, we were captured, again.


	22. Beingkidnapped,takentoVolterra,Angellear

_**Nudge the Quileute21**_

_**Being kidnapped, taken to Volterra, Angel learning that Demetri is her soulmate, Demetri telling us that he is part-bird, seeing Ari, Max almost passing out, Angel scalping Marcus in poker, Caius attempting to get us to help the Volturi so he can get him and his brothers into the CSM or the Coalition to Stop the Madness and failing and Aro trying to do the same thing and succeeding, Demetri tracking and joining us and bringing Ari with him, returning to Forks, Max calling Jeb and Ari talking to his father for the first time in four years, Leah imprinting on Ari, and Max quizzing Leah to see how ready she is to be in constant danger**_

_**Nudge's POV**_

I struggled to figure out what was going on. I knew one thing though. We had to get out of here. Was everyone here and I glanced around and did a quick head-count. Yep, we were all still together, but we really mad about being kidnapped yet again. Who was taking us this time, though? Despite my curiosity to know where we were being taken and who had taken us, I didn't want to find out right away. Then the figures who had grabbed us entered our prison cell in the back of the plane we were on and I recognized them at once. I struggled to my feet and snarled, "Hello Felix, Demetri." "Dog." Felix came toward me intending to punch me, but I ducked, side-stepped and he ended up punching Demetri, but then Angel made Felix apologize.

Ed studied my face and looked at me, as if to ask, "Now can I use Angel as leverage against these guys?" I nodded and then smirked, knowingly. Ed stood up and said, "Excuse, Demetri, Felix. I know who your soulmate is and one of you, your soulmate is right here in this plane." Demetri turned and said, "Who? Who? Me, please say me, please say me." Felix walloped Demetri upside the head and said, "Chill, Demetri. He might be lying." Ed rolled his eyes and said, "Demetri, permit to introduce you to your soulmate, Angel." Then he turned to us and said, "Angel come here. There's someone you need to meet." He then got down to her level and said, "Listen, Ange, I tried to keep this a secret from you. I'd wanted you to have options, to not feel like you have to pick only this one person, but it kinda all went ka-blooey with a capital Kuh, thanks to Caius Volturi." Angel nodded and then Ed gestured to Demetri, "Demetri meet Angel. Angel, this is Demetri, the guy I was talking about when I said I didn't want you to have to pick just one person." Angel nodded and hugged Demetri and he hugged her back and I was sure we'd get out of here, wherever here was. Demetri sighed and said, "Felix go fly the plane." Felix looked at Demetri and whined and said, "But why, Demetri?" "'Cause I said so." He then turned to us and said, "I'm so, so, so sorry, guys. You're being taken to Volterra, Caius's orders—I wanted nothing to do with his plan, but I was the only tracker in the Volturi and we're kind have never been really challenged, except for in Forks. I'm also kinda of like you guys, part-bird and all." He showed us his wings and Max vaguely recognized him as the one mutant who'd successfully escaped from the School and never been recaptured or killed or retired.

Of course, once we got into Volterra, Demetri became very serious and all businesslike, but underneath his façade, we all could see he was planning an escape with us. He didn't want us to have to stay here and he tried to keep us away from Caius—apparently Caius was as mean to other vampires as Reilly was to the mutants he worked with, which really scared me. One day, I asked Demetri, "Did Caius want revenge against us for what we did?" Demetri shook his head no, but he still made sure we were relatively safe and hidden away from Caius. Caius wanted something to do with us, but we wouldn't do it though.

One day, we had to go to talk to Aro, Caius, and Marcus. I was a little nervous, but figured that I could hide my fears just like Max does. Of course I was a little tired of having to sniff vampire stinkiness after what had happened when I'd help save Renesmee and Caius might still want revenge for what I did to him.

As soon as we entered the throne room, Max froze and grabbed Fang's arm, shaking violently. I looked where she was looking and saw a little blond-haired boy curled up on Aro's lap, trying to hide from Caius, obviously. Max choked and whispered one word, "Ari." Fang steadied her and when Aro asked, "What's wrong?" Fang said, "When Max went to Germany she thought she saw Ari die right in front of her and so, seeing Ari here, alive, is a bit of a shock for her, for all of us, actually." Then Max held out her arms and said, "Ari, come here. I want to give you a hug." Ari turned and ran over to Max and hugged her hard. Then he said, "Hi, sis." Max smiled and said, "Hey, baby brother." Max scooped up Ari and then he said, "Max, I'm your Voice. I can only read your mind and I can see your future." Max nodded at Ari and thought to him, _**"As soon as the flock and I are able to escape, we'll find a way to bring you with us, I promise, Ari. I won't get separated from you again. Nothing the Volturi can do to me will convince me that I have to leave you behind. You'll always be my baby brother Ari no matter what happens."**_

Angel and I convinced Demetri and Felix wait until Max had recovered from what had happened, and give her a few minutes to have a family reunion of sorts, but after we entered the throne room completely, Max staggered and sank to her knees. She glared at Caius and said, "Geez, got enough evil vibes rolling off of you to destroy the planet, man." Of course, Caius was instantly furious.

Then Angel asked, "So who's really good at poker?" Everyone stared at her, but then Aro poked Marcus and said to Angel, "My brother is." Angel smirked and Demetri said, "Good luck Angel. Marcus is really, really good at poker. He's never been beaten."

We all gathered in the main poker room and some of us took bets over who would win. Mostly it was the vampires who did the betting. Demetri bet Felix that Angel would win and Marcus would finally lose. When Max tried to talk Marcus out of playing Angel in poker, Angel thought to Max, _**"Max, can you please stop trying to get Marcus not to play me? Aro wants to see Marcus lose, for once, and I think I can hand Marcus**__**his first defeat."**_ I also told Angel, "good luck, Angel." Iggy grabbed my hand and held it firmly, while Ari curled up in Max's left arm, she was holding Fang's hand with her right hand, Embry was thinking about Ella, I could tell by the look on his face, and Gazzy was plotting something—like bomb the palace or something like that, or use his new skill to stink up the entire place, which had Max somewhat worried—she was frowning at him.

Then Angel and Marcus sat down to a poker match. Who would win? Max, Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Ed, Ari, Aro, Sulpicia, Athenodora, Chelsea, Jane, Alec, Demetri, Renata, and I all hoped it would be Angel. Caius and the rest of the guard all wanted Marcus to win, though. Of course, the flock, Ari, and I all knew that Angel had a bit of an advantage with her mind-reading/mind-control thing, but everyone in the flock was really, really, really, good at poker, though. Even Total's good at poker, and he's a dog, a flying and talking mutant dog, that is.

We all watched as Angel beat Marcus the first time and grinned and I said, "Go Angel!" Marcus stared at the cards in shock and then said, "Best two out of three." Angel beat him again. "Three out of five." Angel beat him again. "Four out of six." Angel beat him again. "Five out of seven." Angel beat him again. "Six out of eight." Angel beat him again. "Seven out of nine." Angel beat him again. Marcus finally said, "Well done, Angel." Aro snickered and said, "Look's like Volterra has a new poker champion. The mighty Marcus has finally fallen." Marcus stomped on Aro's foot after that. It was pretty funny. In fact, even Caius was doubling over in laughter, or that was just him being mean to his brother. I wasn't sure; I couldn't read his mind, and so I asked Angel, mentally that is. **"Is Caius just being mean or is he agreeing with us?"** _**"Both, I don't know how he's doing it."**_

Later, the flock and I all had to talk to Caius and Demetri agreed to look after Ari for Max. Ari complained about it, but Max reasoned with him. "But Max, I don't need a babysitter. I'm not a little boy anymore," Ari whined. Max nodded and said, "Ari, after what happened in Germany, when I saw "you" die, I can't take any risks. I don't think I could I bear it if you died again. The first time was hard enough. I couldn't deal with it a second time." Ari nodded and agreed to let Demetri look after him.

Caius seemed calm and not like he wanted revenge and said, "I'm glad all of you could join me. My brothers and I have heard a great deal about an anti-pollution group known as the Coalition to Stop the Madness or the CSM and we all wish to join. I'm sure one of you knows a member." Max snapped at him, "And we should believe you because?" "The whole reason I brought you here is 1) because Volterra is the safest place on the planet, 2) I'm sure you wanted to see Ari, and 3) I'm absolutely, positively sure you can find or know someone who can get me and my brothers, and our wives, into the CSM." Max went to say something, but I held up my hand and said, "Although, you make a convincing case, I, that is, we, have several very convincing reasons to not help you. (1.) you hate werewolves, (2.) you tried to kill us less than a month ago, (3.) you killed the sister of two of my friends, (4.) you hunted werewolves into near extinction, (5.) you kidnapped us, and (6.) you brought us here against our will." Caius gave up on trying to reason with us, but then Aro tried and succeeded, by being nice to us and actually telling us what he wanted to do to help the CSM and that he would offer us several homes in Volterra as safe houses and have Demetri, Jane, Alec, Felix, Chelsea and Heidi all guard us while we were in Volterra. Caius was pretty mad that we agreed to help Aro, but not him. Demetri quickly came up with an escape plan to help us get to safety. He said he'd join us, but that he'd bring Ari and meet up with us somewhere. Max quickly decided on the old E-shaped house where we used to live to be the meeting point.

We all left that night, taking to the skies and flying away. We reached our old house and waited for Demetri and Ari to arrive. Then Demetri and Ari came and Max, Fang, and Iggy took turns with Demetri carrying Ari on the way to Forks. When we reached Forks, Max pulled out her cell phone and called her mom. "Hey, Mom. Yeah, we're fine, but that's not why I'm calling. Is, Jeb, Dad, there?" "Yes. Jeb, Max wants to talk to you." "Mom, could you be ready because I think Jeb might pass out or something. Hey, Dad. I have someone here with me and I think he wants to talk to you." Then she turned away from the phone and said, "Ari." Ari ran over to Max and she handed the phone to him and said, "It's Dad." Ari took the phone and said, "Hi, Daddy." Jeb froze and said, "Ari?" "It's true. I never was an Eraser. That was all a part of Max's training." "I see," Jeb said. Ari went inside and hid in the kitchen and said, "Dad, I think she's ready. She's ready to finish what she started. She's ready to completely save the world. It's time for Max to finish the game, for her to win it all." Jeb nodded and said, "Okay, bye Ari. Tell Max to pass on my love to the flock and that I hope she stays safe and out of harm's way." "'Kay. Bye, Daddy. See you soon."

Later, I saw Leah and she went into the kitchen to tell Jacob something about that had happened while she was on patrol. She was his second-in-command, or his Beta. Since it's just me and Embry in my pack, Embry automatically became my Beta. Then she saw Ari and froze. I could see it in her eyes—she had imprinted.

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Leah Clearwater's POV

All along, I'd thought that I was a genetic dead-end, that I had no hope of passing on the wolf gene despite my stellar bloodlines. I'd been jealous of Monique, of Jacob's cousin, for being able to imprint when I couldn't. I'd thought it was because she was not like me and the rest of the pack, because she was a mutant freak. I had no idea how wrong I was. I'd thought it because her genes were so different from everyone else's, well except for Embry, including her own cousin.

Everything inside me came down as I stared at the face of the seven-year-old standing in the kitchen. All the lines that held me to my life were sliced apart in swift cuts, like clipping the strings to a bunch of balloons. Everything that made me who was—my hate for the Cullens, my hate for Bella, my anger at Emily, my rage at Sam, my love for my mother and brother, my loyalty to my pack, the love for my other brothers, my home, my name, my _self_—disconnected from me in that second—_snip, snip, snip _—and floated up into space.

I was not left drifting. A new string held me where I was.

Not one string, but a million. Not strings, but steel cables. A million steel cables all tying me to one thing—to the very center of the universe.

I could see that now—how the universe swirled around this one point. I'd never seen the symmetry of the universe before, but now it was plain.

The gravity of the earth no longer tied me to the place where I stood.

It was the seven-year-old boy standing in the kitchen, hanging up his older sister's cell phone.

Ari.

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Nudge/Monique Amanda Black's POV

I saw Leah imprint on Ari and said, "You were wrong. You never were a genetic dead-end. None of the pack is. You had just to get out of La Push. Oh, and, good luck dealing with Max, 'cause she'll probably kill you. And she just rescued Ari and she doesn't want him getting hurt anymore and she probably wants to get him back to their father, Jeb Batchelder, and have Ari stay with her mother, Dr. Valencia Martinez, a vet, and her half-sister, Ella Martinez, in Arizona."

Max came in and realized right away that Leah had imprinted on Ari. Max was mad for a few seconds and then motioned for Leah to follow her into the forest. I wondered what was going to happen to Leah. As much as I didn't like her, I really hoped Max wouldn't kill Leah.

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Maximum Charging Off Danger Magnet Batchelder Martinez Ride's POV

Great, my other half-sibling gets imprinted on. It was bad enough when Ed imprinted on Ella, but Ari? He's seven. I just got him back in my life. I went outside, but motioned to Leah to follow me and went into the forest.

She paused and asked, "You aren't going to kill me, are you?" "No," I replied instantly, "but I am going to ask you some questions." Leah said, "Give me a sec." Less than a second later, she came back and said, "Okay, I'm ready to answer your questions, Max."

"Okay, so imprinting is about finding your soulmate, being willing to do anything for that one person, correct?" I asked. "Right," Leah said. "If Ari was in danger and I, or, our father, Jeb, couldn't save him, would you?" "Yes, I would and all of the Quileute wolves stand with me." "If something happened to Ari, would you be ready to help him?" "Yes. No one will hurt Ari and get away with it while I'm breathing." "Are you ready to deliberately put yourself in danger?" "Yes." "Are you ready to hide?" "Yes." "Are you ready to spend nights sleeping in trees?" "Yes." "Are you ready to Dumpster-dive for food on a daily basis?" "Yes." "Are you ready to sleep with one eye open, to remain on guard all hours of the day?" "Yes." "Are you ready to expect danger at every turn?" "Yes." "Are you ready to have almost every single large corporation on the planet, mostly Chu Corporation nowadays, chasing you, to destroy you, to kill you?" "Yes." "Are you ready to be thought of as an accident, a stain, a mistake?" "Yes." "Are you ready to be told that they'll get you?" "Yes." "Then, Leah, welcome to the family...sis," I said as warmly and as welcomingly as I could. Leah smiled at me and said, "Thanks, Max."

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Leah Clearwater's POV

I could see right away that Max was upset with me for imprinting on Ari. I had no control over it. I opened my mouth to apologize, but then she went outside and motioned for me to follow her. We went to the forest, but I was a little worried.

I paused suddenly and asked, "You aren't going to kill me, are you?" "No," she replied immediately, "but I am going to ask you some questions." I quickly said, "Give me a sec." Less than a second later, I came back and said, "Okay, I'm ready to answer your questions, Max."

"Okay, so imprinting is about finding your soulmate, being willing to do anything for that one person, correct?" she asked. "Right," I quickly said, and then thought, maybe this won't be so bad after all. "If Ari was in danger and I, or, our father, Jeb, couldn't save him, would you?" "Yes, I would and all of the Quileute wolves would stand with me." "If something happened to Ari, would be ready to help him?" "Yes. No one will hurt Ari and get away with it while I'm breathing." "Are you ready to deliberately put yourself in danger?" "Yes." "Are you ready to hide?" "Yes." "Are you ready to spend nights sleeping in trees?" "Yes." "Are you ready to Dumpster-dive for food on a daily basis?" "Yes." "Are you ready to sleep with one eye open, to remain on guard all hours of the day?" "Yes." "Are you ready to expect danger at every turn?" "Yes." "Are you ready to have almost every single large corporation, mostly Chu Corporation nowadays, chasing you, to destroy you, to kill you?" "Yes." "Are you ready to be thought of as an accident, a stain, a mistake?" "Yes." "Are you ready to be told that they'll get you?" "Yes." "Then, Leah, welcome to the family...sis," Max said in a warm and welcoming tone. She already thought of me as her sister. I smiled at her and said, "Thanks, Max." I guessed that the questions on survival were probably a sign of what we'd be doing until we'd reached a safe house.

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Nudge/Monique Amanda Black's POV

Amazingly, Max didn't kill Leah. Apparently, she already sees Leah as her sister. Now Max is going to have Ed for a half-brother, plus his half-brother as a half-brother-in-law and Leah as a sister and Seth as another half-brother-in-law.


	23. Chad,Angel'sScaryPrediction,andDylan

_Chad, Angel's Scary Prediction, and Max's New Cute Guy_

_Nudge's POV_

The flock—Max, Fang, Angel, Demetri—he joined us for Angel—Gazzy, Iggy, and myself—Embry and Leah stayed behind with Total and Akila—our dogs, one talks, the other doesn't—and Ari—Leah's mate—and Ella—Embry's mate—all went to Chad, Africa to help spread some light on the injustice of the world. I really liked this idea—it was a way to save the world. Of course, there were other problems to deal with—the Volturi were mad at us for "stealing" their best tracker, our expiration dates—how willing would I be let Demetri save Iggy and maybe Angel—letting him save Angel made sense since they were mates—Demetri and Angel, I mean—but Iggy—that was a whole another story. See, I'm part Quileute and I have the wolf gene, and I can't guarantee I could control myself—not want to hurt or kill Iggy—and the Quileutes and the cold ones or the bloodsuckers or the leeches or the parasites—we have a lot of insults for vampires—traditionally have been enemies for centuries. We didn't though, he chose to join us since he couldn't willing hurt Angel—Embry told him that he was Angel's soulmate—and that was the day I knew that someday Angel and I would become enemies—for the rest of eternity—she would become a bloodsucker and I'd never forgive her—she would be dead to me—or alive as my enemy forever—there was no way around it—the bloodsuckers had been my people's enemies for centuries—since the days of Taha Aki—my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather—and always would be—with only two exceptions—the Cullens and the Denalis—unless Angel, Demetri, and Iggy all went vegetarian—that is only hunted animals instead of humans.

As we got closer to Chad, we had a surprise geography quiz and I whined, "That's too much desert," after Angel got the answer right. Then the CSM planes—we were supposed to meet up with—arrived and Max yelled at us to land, and Fang calmed her down. She is so paranoid sometimes. Then gunmen showed up and tried to shoot us, so we attacked 'em. When Max was half-on, half-off a camel, I was taking down the guy behind her and called, "Nice move, Max!" She got mad at me and said that a village would inherit a tramautized camel.

We regrouped at the refugee camp where we supposed to be working. That night Angel told us something really scary. "Max, Fang is gonna be the first to die and it will be soon." Max got really, really, really, really, mad and Fang and I had to intervene to calm her down. Then another whitecoat—we were immediately suspicious of him—Dr. Hans-Gunther and his birdkid, Dylan, came and introduced themselves. I was glad Leah wasn't here when Angel'd made her prediction—she really liked Fang, as a friend, and possible future brother-in-law.

Later, that night, though, I ran off by myself and phased—to check on the others—those we'd left behind—thanks to the mind connection I shared with Embry and Leah—I could tell them what Angel'd said.

_Embry, Leah. Report. Embry—you first. _**All clear. No sign of bloodsuckers.**_** Ari's fine. Sam and Emily just got married. I took Ari since he really likes being with Cousin Sam and Cousin Emily.**__ 'Kay. Leah, remain calm. You too, Embry. I have some pretty bad news.__** This is something to do with the flock, right?**__ Yeah, it's kinda important._** What happened? Did Max die? Did Iggy's expiration date come? **_**Embry, relax, you're older than Max, and I'm pretty sure the same rule for normal people applies for the flock—the older you are, the more likely you are to die first—so you'll be the first to die.**__ No, Leah, you're wrong. Fang is younger than both Max and Embry, and Angel said that "Fang will be the first to die and it will be soon."__**WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? HOW CAN FANG BE THE FIRST TO DIE? **__Leah, Embry, calm down._

Sometimes, I had to use the Alpha voice—which meant the pack couldn't ignore me—I only used it if I had to, not for any other reason.

_Yes, Embry?_** Back in Volterra, Angel had predicted to me that Marcus would fall and that without their tracker, the Volturi's downfall was imminent. Could that mean that the Cullens and the Denalis could be rising in power? **_**Why I am the last one to find out these things?**__ Leah, shut up for a second. Embry may be right. I'll check in with Jake and Sam. Embry phase back to human and say hi to Ella. Leah phase back to human and say to Ari from me and Max. Tell Ari that Max said I love you. Embry also say hi to Dr. Martinez, Jeb, if you see him, Total, and Akila for us._

I remained in the wolf form and thought, _Sam? Jacob? Can I talk to just the two of you? __**Monique? **_**Sure, cousin. Wassup?**_ A lot. I have some news and one question for you.____**Ask away. **__ Have the Cullens and the Denalis risen in power and successfully overthrown the Volturi and defeated the Romanians? _**Yes, we were there—the Volturi didn't stand a chance. **_Angel was right. She'd predicted the Volturi's downfall when the flock and I were being held hostage in Volterra.____**What is the news? **__ Angel made another prediction today.____**What was it?**__ "Fang will be the first to die and it will be soon."___**You're kidding, right?**_ No, I wish I was.__** That's not good. **__**Tell Leah?**__ Yeah, she and Embry both flipped. Oh no, I forgot to mention Dylan—I'll tell 'em tomorrow. __**Who? **__New birdkid on the block. __**Great. Are you sure you even know he's a birdkid?**__ Yes, Sam and Jacob; we saw his wings—that's not something you can fake. You should know that by now._

The next day, Max and Angel talked to the whitecoat and Max's Voice apparently told her that Dylan was made for her—designed for her, to be precise. Then Max and Fang told us we were going home. I immediately phased to wolf form.

_Leah, Embry, bring Ella and Ari and meet me at Dr. Martinez's. I'll bring the four of you home._


	24. Author's Note

_**A/N. Hey guys, listen up. I have a poll for deciding who gets sacrificed to Max's wrath and tells her that Angel's missing. So far, no one, besides me, has voted on it. So vote for who you want to sacrifice to Max's wrath or I won't update this story anymore and you'll never know Max's reaction, if Angel is found, and if the person is killed. It's on my profile and if no one else votes, the person I voted for to be the sacrifice will be the one sent. I want someone to say I think so-and-so should face Max. So go vote.  
**_


	25. Author's Note 2

**_A/N. Hey guys, thanks for all the votes so far. We're halfway done. Just 50 more votes and you'll learn who gets sacrificed to Max's wrath. So be sure to vote.  
_**


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